Street Smarts
by bored411
Summary: I loved the adrenaline rush it gave me and craved more, which is how I ended up here."If the daughter of a police officer wants to be a punk, then she can live like one; on the streets!" OCxL
1. Chapter 1

I was stretched out on the dirty bed, whose sheets probably hadn't been changed in who know how long, whistling a tune from one of my favorite songs. I couldn't help but chuckle at the grumbles from the cell across mine and rolled so that my head was off the side of the bed, facing said cell.

"What's wrong, murderer-san? Is my whistling bothering you?" I smirked, knowing that my teasing had probably gotten to him after a week of dealing with me.

"The hell it is! God, you're lucky you're a cop's kid or I'd have killed you already!"

Yeah, that's right. I'm a cop's kid, sitting in a jail cell across from Shirami Misaaki, one of Japan's serial arsonists. My father? None other that the sub-chief of the Japanese police. The reason I'm even in a cell is because of him. I kind of broke into our-_his_ house and hacked his computer to get police files. He came home early and decided that a week in jail might straighten me out. Of course, it did nothing but brighten up my day.

I'm not the typical goody two shoes daughter one would expect. Father practically disowned me when I went out and cut my long brown hair, spiking it up and dying it a shocking dirty blonde. He gave up thinking it was a rebellious phase when I got two piercing on my right ear and a raven tattoo on my arm. That's when he finally kicked me out of the house, saying something along the lines of,

"If the daughter of a police officer wants to be a punk, then she can live like one; on the streets!"

I didn't mind. In fact, I almost enjoyed it. It was a great change from the boring life I had, where every day seemed to be the same. I was bored and now, I could do what I wished to make my life more entertaining. I met up with some guys and learned how to hack into computers and used my dad's police files to lead police to criminals. I loved the adrenaline rush it gave me and craved more, which is how I ended up here.

It was the last day in the cell before my father let me out and lectured me, and I couldn't have cared less. I continued teasing the murderer across from me until he suddenly stopped.

"Hey, you okay?"

He never answered. Apparently, he had a weapon of some sort and cut his fingers, drawing a star in a circle on the prison wall before just collapsing. I immediately called out for guards and when they got there, I heard them mumbling.

"It's gotta be Kira."

"There's no other person who could've done it."

Ah yes, Kira. My father had a file about him and I had managed to read it over right before I was caught. He could somehow kill criminals with heart attacks, although no one knew how. I was immediately interested, but just then my father showed up.

"Go Minoru. I want you to just leave and never mention what happened here. Do you understand?"

"Why should I listen to you? You're not my father anymore."

_SMACK!_

"Now you listen to me! I gave up on you long ago, but that doesn't give you a right to speak to me like this! Leave! And if you say a _word_ I will personally make your life a living hell!"

He was furious, I know, but I couldn't stand back and just take it like I always did. So, I grabbed his suit collar and pulled him up to my level, speaking in a calm voice.

"It's too late for that. My life's already hell and I never thought of you as my father."

His shocked face gave me pleasure, as I walked out the door of the police station. I couldn't wait to find out more about the Kira case simply for the mere satisfaction of having something to do. I was bored and this could make my life that much more interesting.

* * *

><p>It had been a couple of weeks since the murder of six fugitives. Three of which did something odd before dying. I laughed at the thought that this Kira character was possibly testing his abilities, and wondered silently if anyone else knew this. I heard the click of the door and quickly closed everything, removing any trace that I had hacked into his computer, and jumped out the second story window.<p>

After discovering the hidden message in the notes written by the criminals, I came up with a plan to follow the chief of police to see if I could find out more about Kira and the mysterious L, who had taken charge of the case. He, or she, was an interesting person; able to communicate with the police and get their help without showing his/her face or name. He/she also had quite the complicated firewall, which I discovered when I purchased a cheap laptop and tried tracing his/her video feed during one of the police's meetings. The moment L began hacking _my _laptop, I destroyed it and scattered the remains of it throughout the city.

By the end of the day, I was exhausted from running all over the city, but I knew that I still had to keep an eye on Mr. Yagami. I managed to make it back to the police station before he left and 'accidentally' bumped into him.

"Sorry, Mr. Yagami. I didn't mean to run into you."

"No, it's my fault. I've been a bit distracted. Say 'hi' to your father for me."

"Sure thing."

Normal conversation, but we both knew how I was with my father and he didn't notice me place a bug on him when I ran into him. It was a simple tracker and listening bug, very small and hardly noticeable where I put it; on the underside of his suit lapel. He headed to his car and I quickly rounded the corner and waited for him to leave before running to the Teito Hotel, where he'd stopped.

_What could he be doing here?_ I thought, noticing that there was one other officer with him. _Could he be…?_ I cut off my thoughts, putting in the headphone and following him to the elevator. I took the stairs four at a time, to the correct floor and stood around the corner as the door to the room they were at was opened. A young man, maybe 4 years older than myself, longer black hair, and bags under his eyes opened the door and said one simple sentence after he closed it.

"I am L."

There were other police officers there, seeing how they introduced themselves, and I laughed when L stated how stupid they were. I continued to listen, as L began stating what facts he knew about the Kira case, and compared what he said to my own knowledge: sore loser, needs a face and name, acts alone, and testing his powers. Of course, I didn't know about the twelve FBI agents, which interested me. I got bored though when he began interrogating every police officer, but perked up when I spotted an older gentleman walk in the room. I discovered this to be Watari and knew that I was running out of time before I was discovered. I pulled out a piece of paper and quickly wrote down something, attaching it to my headphones and wrapping them around the door handle. I wasn't worried about fingerprints or anything, since it became a habit to wear gloves when I was younger and I waited. The door opened hurriedly and I began walking back down the stairs, not bothering to watch any longer. Sure, I dropped out of high school, but you'd be surprised how smart you become on the streets.

* * *

><p>"Did you find him, Watari?"<p>

L was nervously biting his thumb, as he had been when he first discovered the bug on Mr. Yagami's jacket lapel. Watari shook his head before holding out a note and a set of cheap headphones.

"They left this on the door handle though."

"_**L, You caught on fast but I'm not one to give up. Son of Cyllene.*"**_

L dangled the paper in front of his face and set it down on the table next to the headphones with a smile on his face. Mr. Yagami was still flustered about being bugged and hoped that L wouldn't kick him off the case after this possible compromise. He was ringing his hands and staring at his feet when L finally spoke up.

"I am concerned about our case being overheard by this person. There is a 78% chance that this is the person who tried to hack me before at one of the meetings with the police. There is also a 14% chance that this person is Kira and if that is true, then we obviously have a problem. Mr. Yagami, I will not force you to leave this case, but I advise you to be more careful of your surroundings so this doesn't happen in the future."

"O-Of course."

"Also, I will now have to search you for bugs and other devices before you enter the room. This person is smart and has some sort of connection, and I cannot afford to have anymore information get out. Watari, check the note for prints and search for this 'Son of Cyllene'."

And so began the game between Kira, L, and SoC.

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><p><strong>Please review and tell me what you think ^^<br>**

***Son of Cyllene-Cyllene is a British thoroughbred race horse who helped birth a foal named Minoru**


	2. Chapter 2

_What to do, what to do_…I felt stupid for challenging L directly when I obviously have no idea what I'm going to do next. I can't put bugs on the officers and they are paying more attention to their surrounding, so I can't follow them. Then I realized something. I didn't need to follow anyone now that I know where L is staying at. All I had to do now, was make sure he didn't leave, or at least know where he was going if he did leave.

Having at least one idea in mind, I headed to the parking lot of the hotel to see if I could find a car that screams, "Hey look at me!". I mean, seriously, if L can afford such an expensive hotel room, then he's gotta have a nice car. Even I wouldn't be able to resist spending some of that cash on a sweet ride. Sure enough, I spotted a sleek black, old style, Mercedes Benz. I checked for wandering eyes and went over to the car, before rolling underneath it and placing a tracking bug. _You may be good at finding bugs, but even you wouldn't expect one here._

I finished before anyone noticed and walked away from the hotel, planning my next move. Then, I remembered the mention of the FBI officers who came and died by Kira. The only person I knew who would have information about federal agents, just so happened to be a work right now. Perfect.

I was at my father's house in an instant and proceeded to pick the lock. My father was smart and had changed it from his normal lock after I broke in last, but I could easily pick the deadbolt he'd installed. One of the many pluses of being on the street. I inserted my lock picking gear (which I always keep on me) and after a few clicks, the door was open and I strolled through. Something was odd though.

For some reason, I felt like I was being watched and the hair on my arms were standing on end. I glanced around and saw nothing out of place and assumed that I was just jumpy after so many days of no sleep. I shrugged it off and continued to walk up the stairs towards father's office, when I saw it. Barely a flicker, but the light from a hall window caught on something in the air duct. _Oh? He's found me already, has he…no. He has other reasons. If he'd found me, then I'd have been locked up and interrogated by now._ I smirked in the shadows and changed my direction to the restroom on the other side of the hall. I packed up all my clothes from my old room in a duffle bag and stole some of my father's shampoo, just for giggles, returning downstairs.

I thought about what to do for a minute and made my way to the fridge. He didn't have anything that I could just grab and go, so I moved on to the cupboards. I found some cereal and grabbed myself a bowl. I checked the milk, since father wouldn't even notice if it went bad seeing how he doesn't drink it, and ate my extremely late breakfast. I finished up and was about to head out when I spotted the greenest granny smith apple on the counter. I stopped and picked it up, tossing it a few times, while remembering the riddle Kira had given L.

"_**L, did you know shinigami only eat apples?"**_

I held the apple in my mouth as I went to say goodbye to mother. I sat cross-legged on the floor in front of her picture, clapping my hands as I said a silent prayer. I rose and had just taken a bite out of said apple, when father came through the door. We locked eyes before he blew his top.

"You! How did you get in here?"

"The door. How else?"

"You little- Get out! You have no business being here!"

"I have every right to be here! If mom was alive she'd kill you for throwing me out!"

Something connected with the side of my face, causing me to stumble back a few steps. He'd punched me and I could already feel the black eye starting to form.

"Don't you dare talk about my wife! You think I don't know what she wanted? It's not like I was the one who caused her to die!"

That was the last straw. I looked at the apple in my hand as I gripped it tighter and tighter, until I crushed it; splattering apple remains on the carpet. Father looked shocked but I just walked past him, re-shouldering my bag as I walked down the street._ Just what I need. L, I hope you enjoyed the show, cause that's the last time you'll see me until I show myself to you._

* * *

><p><em>Hm, looks like Light has slimmed his chances at being Kira. It's only about 3% now although, it's possible that he's covering his tracks. That just makes the game more interesting. <em>L continued watching the security camera videos, when his phone began ringing.

"Yes, Aizawa?"

"Someone just showed up at the Kitamura's and they're breaking in! You have to see this!"

"Make sure you record it until I get there." He hung up and turned to Watari. "Make sure to watch the Yagami family while I'm gone. Mr. Yagami, please come with me."

He nodded and they quickly left to the other hotel where Aizawa was keeping watch on the Sub-Chief's house. After they reached the room, the tapes were rewound and played back from where the intruder broke in. L began biting his thumb when he saw the short haired figure walk up and bend down to pick the lock. He heard Mr. Yagami breath in quickly and turned to him.

"Do you know this person, Mr. Yagami?"

"Yes, actually. She's the sub-chief's daughter, Minoru. She isn't exactly on good terms with her father, but I never expected this."

Everyone returned to watching as Minoru headed up the stairs, stopping at the top for a moment before continuing to a bedroom. L stopped the video and rewound to where she was walking up the stairs.

"Odd, why does she stop here? It's like she was heading somewhere but changed her mind suddenly."

The others agreed silently before L continued the video, watching as the young woman packed clothes and other necessities before heading to the restroom. They watched as she went back downstairs, putting the bottle of shampoo in her duffle bag, and began going through the fridge. L silently wondered why she would have to break into her own house and where she was planning on going, with all the stuff she'd packed. He fast forwarded through her eating the cereal, after seeing nothing interesting but stopped when she returned to the counter and picked up a bright green apple, smirking as she tossed it up in the air.

"6%"

"What?"

"She has a 6% chance of being Kira."

"How? She hasn't done much of anything."

L paused the video again and turned to the officers in the room to explain.

"It's the first time she's been on tape, so she has plenty of time to get the information and kill the criminals. She's smart enough to stay out of sight until now and has most likely noticed the cameras, by the way she stopped on the stairs and changed her destination. She also has the connection to the police through her father. That, and the apple."

He pointed a slim finger at the paused smirk on her face as the apple hung in the air above her. He explained the note to the officers and they seemed to also question whether or not she could be Kira. The video played again and that's when things became more interesting. The sub-chief had returned and when he spotted his daughter, he turned red with fury.

"You! How did you get in here?"

"The door. How else?" The girl looked bored while the sub-chief looked ready to strangle her for her attitude.

"You little- Get out! You have no business being in here!"

"I have every right to be here! If mom was alive she'd kill you for throwing me out!"

The sub-chief lost control and punched the rebelling woman hard in the face, shocking the officers watching. She stumbled back slightly, but the look on her face gave the officers chills even as the older man continued yelling.

"Don't you dare talk about my wife! You think I don't know what she wanted? It's not like I was the one who caused her to die!"

Mr. Yagami was in shock, as were the rest of the group, as they watched Minoru crush the apple in her hand and walk out like nothing had happened. Even L looked slightly taken aback at what had just occurred.

"Mr. Yagami, could you possibly explain what may have caused this?"

"U-Um, well the sub-chief's wife died seven years ago. I never heard the details, but supposedly she was a casualty in a bank robbery. I know Minoru took it the hardest and began acting more…coldly. It was maybe a year after her death that I noticed the changes; the clothes, the hair cut, the piercings, and the tattoo. I only met her occasionally when she'd stop by the office or get caught doing minor thefts. The last I saw of her, she had been locked in a cell by her father for a week and I bumped into her on my way here to meet you for the first time."

"She was arrested for a week…what for?"

"I-I'm not sure. Her father never said anything about it and no one wanted to bring it up…but she was a witness to the death of Shirami Misaaki, the man who drew the star symbol on the wall of his cell before dying of heart attack. Does this mean-"

"13% chance of being Kira. Do you know where she lives by chance?"

"No. I never even knew that he had kicked her out."

"In that case, Mr. Yagami and I shall return to headquarters. Continue watching and update me if you have any more sightings of Minoru."

They went back to the room and L immediately ordered him to find out as much information as possible about Minoru. He sat crouched on the chair and gingerly picked up his tea as he continued to watch the Yagami household, but his mind was still on Minoru. _How is she the cause of her mother's death? Why was she smirking when tossing the apple? Could it be that she is Kira and knew about the riddle? It would explain why Shirami Misaaki died with her as a witness, but then why doesn't she just kill the sub-chief? She definitely intrigues me. How will you play this out, Kira?_

* * *

><p><strong>It's hard to write L's thoughts, he's just too darn smart! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please be sure to review! ^^<strong>_  
><em>


	3. Chapter 3

_Heh, L you are quite entertaining. I'm glad I decided to follow you here._ I had managed to sneak into Touhou University, just by passing security, and was currently watching L through binoculars. I was squatted down above the stage up where the lighting was and had a perfect view of L and Light Yagami (who didn't surprise me) as they shook hands and sat down. I could practically feel the tension rolling off of them in waves and silently wondered what they were talking about.

"Hey you!"

I turned and spotted a guard making his way towards me. Normally, one would run in this situation, but I'm not exactly normal now am I? My hair was hidden in a baseball cap and I was wearing a black long sleeve shirt. I turned to the man, calm as can be.

"Yes, sir. Is there something you need?"

"What are you doing up here? I was told that no one was to be up here during the ceremony."

"I apologize, but the lighting instructor told me to move one of the lights manually because it was jammed. Anything else?"

He stared at me for a minute before gesturing to me to leave. _Ah, too simple. _I thought. I left after the ceremony and made sure to keep and eye on L and Light during their stay at Touhou.

The tennis match they had days later was quite interesting. I had managed to sneak in, once again, but made sure that I had a better view this time. That's right, I was the referee. I had no piercings and my hair was dyed black to match…well, everyone else. Currently I was removing the dye and going back to my old blonde hair before checking my phone to see where L was at. I took a cab to where he was at, just in time to see him leave and head somewhere else (on my phone). I followed him once again, replacing my piercings in the car, and saw as he and Light rushed into the hospital.

_Well, this can't be good._ If L was going in there, then it most likely had to do with the Kira case or someone on it. If he was taking Light with him then either Light is now on the case, or something happened to Mr. Yagami. So, based on my deduction skills, I assumed something happened to Mr. Yagami. I knew I couldn't do much about what was going on, so I took a look around; spotting Watari waiting outside leaning on the Mercedes. I though about it for a minute and decided: _Hey, why not? It'll certainly make things interesting._

* * *

><p>"Visiting hours are over."<p>

L and Light nodded and proceeded to head out the hospital. Mr. Yagami had had a heart attack due to too much stress, and it seems that everyone was on edge. As they headed down the halls, Light spoke up.

"Ryuuka? Isn't there something I can do to prove I'm not Kira?"

"If you're not, then that won't be necessary."

Light began to get more agitated and L was having a hard time believe on whether he was acting or not. The conversation continued for a while and just as they headed out the front door, where they were met with a surprise. Watari had pinned someone to the back of the car and said person was laughing, of all things.

"Ahaha! This certainly is quite interesting! It's great to know that someone like you has this much hidden strength."

"Watari, what is going on?"

Both L and Light were quite shocked to see this and neither of them could guess what had happened exactly, which was odd seeing how they're supposed to be geniuses.

"Well…I was waiting out here for your return when this person walked up to me and began asking about-" The person interrupted, voice slightly muffled.

"His martial art skills. I asked him how good he was and if he could show me a few moves. Hence the reason I'm pinned to the car."

L and Light looked at the still shadowed figure like they were out of their mind. They glanced at each other, before L turned back to Watari.

"Is this true?"

"Of course not! I would never force anyone into this position just because they were curious. He actually asked about my knowledge of racehorses."

"Aw, kill my fun why don't you."

The elder man sighed and L looked puzzled.

"Racehorses?"

"There was a British thoroughbred racehorse who became the best horse of his generation in 1897. He became one of the three best horses in England after winning nine out of eleven races. Eventually he was sold and became a sire, having helped birth six derby winners. This horse's name…was Cyllene."

L became greatly interested suddenly and nodded to Watari who pulled the figure off the front of the car, revealing blonde hair. The blonde _woman_ chuckled at L and finished her monologue.

"One of the foals Cyllene had was named Minoru. Do you see the connection yet, L?"

Light looked shocked that this person knew L and was curious to find out more, but L began giving Watari orders.

"Watari, restrain Ms. Kitamura. I will question her later."

"Yes sir."

"Light, I want you to not mention this to anyone. You may or may not be informed about this later. Goodnight."

_Did he say Kitamura? Isn't that the sub-chief of police's surname? This…Minoru may be more trouble than I thought._ Light thought as the car before him drove away. L, on the other hand, made sure that Minoru was knocked out and bound before taking her to the hotel for questioning. He knew that she had a high possibility of being Kira, so he wasn't going to take any chances.

* * *

><p><em>Oh man~ Did I need that.<em> I yawned loudly and stretched as good as I could despite having my arms tied above me to the headrest of the bed I was on. My feet were also tied to the foot of the bed and my eyes were covered, but I personally couldn't be any more comfortable. It's been a long time since I've slept in an actual bed, and this one was amazing. I swear, every piece of cloth felt like silk and I began to wonder how long I had slept when L's voice rang through a speaker somewhere in the room.

"I see you're finally awake, Ms. Kitamura."

"Really? I didn't think you'd notice, L." I heard a few short gasps in the background and smirked. "I see you have the rest of the group with you. Good morning guys. I hope you'll forgive me for getting your Chief in trouble earlier. It seems I should've hidden the bug better."

There was a moment of silence before L continued, as if I hadn't even spoke.

"Ms. Kitamura-"

"Minoru's fine. Miss makes me sound old and it reminds me of my mother…"

"I see. Well then Minoru, I have a few questions for you. First off, I would like to know why you put a bug on Mr. Yagami."

"To listen in of course."

I could practically see the group getting irritated, although, I couldn't quite picture what L would be doing. He's always so stoic and I'm sure he almost never gets worked up.

"Please answer properly, Minoru."

"And here I though that would get a reaction…I put a bug on Mr. Yagami to get some more info on the Kira case."

"And why would you need this information?"

"Because I was bored and it seemed interesting."

"Why you-You think this is some sort of game!"

"Aizawa, please calm down. Minoru, he does have a point. The Kira case is not some sort of game. People have died."

"You think I don't know that? One was killed across from my cell, as I'm sure you know. Besides, I've lived on the street long enough to see some pretty nasty sights myself. It was a nice change from the dull life I've been living. The Kira case and other cases I've solved were just a way of passing my time. This one was quite intriguing though. I just wanted to hear someone else's opinion and you, L, seemed like the perfect person."

"How did you find me at the hospital? Not even I expected to be heading there and you have not contacted Mr. Yagami since I discovered the bug."

"That? Too easy, L. You may have the group checked daily for bugs, but you never checked anything of yours. There's a tracking bug on the underside of your car. Seriously though, if you wanted to stay hidden, you should buy an inconspicuous vehicle. Oh, I should probably let you know that I followed you to the Touhou entrance ceremony too. I was above the stage with a set of binoculars. That, and I was the referee at you little tennis match."

I had to wait for a minute while L thought that over. Eventually, he responded.

"How do you get the bugs? No normal person would be able to acquire those when they cannot afford their own place."

"That, is where connections come in handy. I've lived away from home long enough to meet some very interesting people…and I have a question for you. When will you release me? These ropes are cutting into my wrists. Oh, and can I get some food? I haven't eaten since the whole apple thing at home. You have to hide your cameras better. The light from the hall window managed to hit the one in the air duct."

"I see. I will keep that in mind…You will not be released until I have substantial proof you are not Kira, although, something will be given to you to eat."

The room went silent and eventually someone came in and fed me. I didn't bother trying those lame tricks you see in movies to try and get my captor to release me. They never work and besides, I have food AND someplace to sleep. _Looks like another nap is in order. Maybe I can convince L to let me help with the Kira case tomorrow…After breakfast of course._

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><p><strong>This chapter was quite hard to write for some reason, but I got it done so I hope you liked it ^^ I thought it may have been a bit early for Minoru to meet up with L, but I liked the way this worked out. Oh, and please review!<strong>_  
><em>


	4. Chapter 4

Breakfast never came and by evening, I was bored out of my mind. My sleep had begun to be riddled with nightmares and boredom was the one thing I couldn't stand, so I decided to liven things up a bit. First I had to find out if L was keeping watch or not, so I rubbed my head against the nice satin pillow until my blind fold came off. When L didn't respond, I considered myself lucky. Something else was keeping him occupied and now was my chance to reveal my secret weapon.

Sure, Watari took all of my hidden pocket knives, switch blades, screwdrivers, lock picks, and silver ware (don't judge, a spoon, fork, and chopsticks can come in handy) but he didn't know about this. I managed to take one of my ripped, dirty converses off and had it hanging by the heel off of my foot. I quickly flicked my foot forward, aiming to toss my shoe to my hands, but didn't get enough swing and ended up with a shoe planted on my face.

I sighed, grabbing the toe of the shoe between my teeth and tossing it back to my hands. There was still no sign of L as I stuck my finger into one of the rips in my shoe and pulled out a small box cutter, cutting through the ropes easily. I replaced my shoe and kept the box cutter between my teeth as I check the door, which was locked. I turned to the window and opened it, searching for a ledge of some sort that would allow me to make my way out of the room, but found none. I left the window open and tipped the camera L had set up so that it faced the window. That way, they would assume I'd taken a trip out the window instead of where I was now headed.

There was a tall dresser below a small air duct and I climbed up it, gently removing the ceiling panel, exposing the underbelly of a larger section of the duct. I used the box cutter to unscrew the base and climbed in. When the group finally discovered this duct, I'd most likely be exactly where I wanted to be. Sure enough, maybe halfway through army crawling to my destination, I heard voices yelling from my interrogation room. I stopped long enough to ensure that Watari was one of them and continued. As long as he was there, my plan would work perfectly.

I followed my nose and stopped where the duct dropped off, displaying a set of fans which I removed (I love my handy dandy box cutter) and set down on the stove. I slid down, making as little noise as possible, before replacing the fans and heading towards the fridge. _I love this guy already_. I thought as I stole and extra large slice of a strawberry crème cake and grabbed a fork. I walked out of the kitchen silently and snuck up behind the figure sitting crouched on a chair in front of a TV screen. I made as much noise as I could as I sat down cross-legged next to him, stuffing my face full of cake and pointing to the screen showing the group of officers scrambling about the interrogation/hotel room.

"Hey, is this show any good? Looks like another episode of dumb old Cops to me."

I smirked as L's eyes widened in, what I could only guess was shock. He turned back to the screen and pushed a button on a small microphone sitting on the table.

"I have…found him, you may all return to the main room, if you will."

He turned back to me and I watched him from the corner of my eye. We stared at each other for a minute, until his hand shot out. I saw it coming and shoved my foot into his chest and held the half finished cake out of his reach as I took another bite, smirking wider when his eyes narrowed.

"Ryuzaki! We heard you found him, are you…"

All eyes turned to us in shock as I continued to munch on the cake and hold L back. I was down to the last bite, when he finally relented. I was surprised at his change of mood, but felt bad when he looked like a kicked puppy. I sighed and held out the plate with the last bite.

"Take it. I can't stand your 'kicked puppy' look."

He looked slightly confused, but took it and ate the cake before telling the group to sit down. He was about to ask me the long awaited question, but I beat him to it.

"Look, I'll tell you what I did, how I did it, and why…but you have to answer some of my questions too. Deal?"

He stuck his thumb to his lips and nodded after a minute.

"Okay then. I woke up this morning eagerly waiting for a breakfast that never came. Thank you very much. I tried sleeping again but didn't have the most pleasant dreams and I became bored."

"So you escaped because you were bored?"

"Pretty much…but you guys want to know how I did it, huh?"

I smiled evilly at them and got a few enthusiastic nods from Matsuda and glares from the other group members.

"You see, Watari may have taken away all my weapons and other tools, but he missed a few. I'm sure if you play the video, you will understand what I am talking about. I didn't tip the camera over till later."

L picked up the remote and rewound up to the part where I took off my blindfold. I, of course, couldn't help but narrate what I was doing to the rest of the thick-headed officers.

"So I removed the blindfold to see if anyone was paying attention, which you guys obviously weren't. Then, as you can see, I removed my shoe and tried tossing it up to my hands…"

There was a loud _smack_ from the speakers and Matsuda was full on laughing when he saw me get hit in the face with my own shoe.

"…as you can see, that didn't work out so well. Anyway, I had a box cutter hidden in between the fabrics of my shoe and cut myself loose. I checked the window for ledges and checked to see if the door was locked, before discovering the air duct above the dresser. I never wanted to leave, mind you. I was bored, but this is the nicest place I've stayed in and you, L, obviously have nice taste in food. That cake was delicious."

I smiled up at him and he just looked at me like I wasn't worth my time. _Whatever, he's just mad I beat him at his own game._ I fiddled with my earlobe, like I always do when I'm bored or nervous, before turning to the officers who were waiting for my questions.

"Right…As for my questions, I only have three. First, I have some errands to run tomorrow and I would like to get them done. I don't care if you come with me, L. I just need to empty my bank account, quit my jobs, and pick up a package that someone's holding for me."

"I might be able to arrange that. What else?"

"I want to not be tied up anymore and I want to have something to keep me occupied because, as you can see, I get bored easily and have a knack for causing mayhem…I don't care if I'm chained to something else, as long as I have enough room to move around a bit. I need my exercise."

Half the group looked at me like I was insane, but hey, it's true. I lived on the streets and it became a habit for me to stay in shape. Even when I was in jail for a week, I kept myself occupied by doing sit ups, push ups, stretches, and other workouts.

"And your last question?"

I was broke out of my musings by L, but he's the one who needed to answer this question.

"What were you guys so distracted by that I couldn't get my breakfast?"

I heard several face palms, before the room grew completely silent. I looked around and noticed that everyone had a grim face on.

"Geeze, did someone die or something?"

I spotted Matsuda flinch and Aizawa clench his fists. _Woah, looks like I was right on the dot._ I sighed loudly and played with my ear again. They weren't going to like what I had to say, but it'll help me get some answers and I may be able to help.

"So who was the idiot who got himself killed?"

Aizawa snapped and launched himself at me, punching me hard in the jaw. The other's of the group stood up and were going to help, but I held out a hand to stop them. I needed to hear what he had to say in order to help, even if it meant I get beaten to a pulp first.

"Don't talk about him that way! What would you know? Ukita was my best friend and he just got killed!"

_So it was Ukita, huh…nice guy. Gave me aspirin when I got released from a cell after getting a DUI._ I looked up at Aizawa, who was pinning me to the floor and replied in a stoic fashion.

"You know what? I might not know anything…But you wanna know what I do know? I know exactly whose fault it is." He looked shocked for a minute, before he returned to being angry. "This is not L's fault, for not stopping him. It's not your fault, for not going after him. It's not the TV crew's fault, for watching it happen."

"Get to the damn point! For all I know, this is your fault!"

He punched me again, cutting my lip open. I licked my tongue over the wound before smirking evilly at him and pulling him closer by his tie.

"You know what? Maybe it is my fault. Maybe I'm Kira and I just killed him while I was up in the air duc-"

_Man does he have a good swing. I'm gonna get a black eye from that one._ I let go of his tie and dropped my head to the ground with a nice resounding _thump_. I saw L and the other officers looking at me like I was insane for inticing him, but it needed to be done.

"Either way, it's Kira's fault for killing him…So what are you going to do about it, Aizawa? What are you going to do now that Kira has killed your best friend?"

"I'm gonna kill that son of a *****!"

I smiled, happy with my results, which must have scared Aizawa now that he's noticed what he's done. He got up off me and backed off, looking down at his fists and back at me. Finally, I spoke.

"It's about time you figured that out. I was afraid I'd have to undergo facial reconstruction by the time you found the right path."

Now everyone was looking at me confused. I just waved from my place on the floor as L told them to head home. Something about how they were exhausted and needed a break. Right as Aizawa reached the door, though, I called out to him.

"You're lucky, Aizawa. You're lucky you have someone like me around that you can beat the crap out of AND set you back on the right path…but you're even more lucky for having family and friends that will help you get over Ukita's death. I didn't have that when my friend was killed. All I had was a brick wall and a pistol."

I let my words hang in the air as he turned back to the door, mumbling a quiet 'thank you'. I laid there for a minute until I felt something cold on my face. I looked up with one eye and saw Watari holding an ice pack on my new black eye. I glanced up at him with a look that said, _'What the hell are you doing?'_ and he just smiled.

"That was a nice thing you did. I didn't expect you to be that kind of person."

"Well, duh. You were too busy tying me to a bed thinking I was Kira, to get to know me."

He chuckled slightly as I stood up and made my way over to my spot on the floor next to L. He didn't even look at me, and I could see why. He probably though I was a whack job…although I could say the same thing about him.

"Minoru, why did you do that?"

"L, I already said why. I've gone through a similar experience and I felt that Aizawa needed someone to kick his butt back into gear before he did something that he would regret."

There was a long pause before L turned to me with his thumb sitting at the corner of his mouth.

"Did you do something that you regret, Minoru?"

I looked him straight in the eyes, not bothering to hide my emotions like I normally did. It took every fiber of my being to open my mouth and say one word.

"Yes."

* * *

><p><strong>I always felt bad for Ukita dying and I felt even worse for Aizawa for blaming himself and L, so I though Minoru could help ^^ I apologize ahead of time if anyone is OOC. I tried my best to get their characters right and I hope it's okay. Please review and tell me what you think!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

L continued to watch her waiting for her to elaborate, not noticing her hand reaching towards the plate that _had_ cake on it. Next thing he knew, she smiled and wiped something on his noise. He went cross-eyed for a minute, trying to see what she put on his nose and she was rolling on the floor laughing. He stopped staring at the cake frosting on his nose and instead chose to glance at the girl who continued to her stomach, tears falling from the corner of her eyes. _Why is she laughing? Did I do something funny?_ he thought.

"Oh my gosh!…Y-Your face! If I had a camera-"

"20% Kira."

She stopped laughing immediately, looking at L with a single brow raised.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

They stared at each other for a good couple of minutes before L blinked.

"Ha! I win! Oh, and you still have frosting on your nose."

He wiped his nose, removing the rest of the frosting before asking, "Win what?"

She dropped her bottom jaw in shock, before closing it and stated in a calm voice, "The staring contest."

"I do not know what you are talking about."

"Never mind. Besides, you never told me the details about what happened with my breakfast."

"Why are you so adamant about your breakfast?"

"I'm not used to eating a whole lot, so one meal means a lot to me…" She shrugged it off and turned back to L who turned back to the screen and began explaining what happened on Sakura TV.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you took me seriously when I said that."<p>

The cuffs on my wrist jingled slightly as I stepped out of L's fancy car. Apparently, he didn't take me seriously then, when I told him to get a more common car. I ignored his answer, if he even gave me one, and began walking down the block with him handcuffed next to me.

"Where are we going? You said we were going to pick up a package at that address."

We had already gotten all my money, which wasn't a whole lot and had already gone by the bar, construction site, and the restaurant where I worked and I quit. I had given Watari and address to drop us off at and had begun heading towards the window of the place until he was out of view. Now, I was tugging on the handcuffs trying to get L to move before my wrist got anymore damage. I finally gave up when blood began trailing down my hand from the cuffs cutting into me.

"Look. Since you never listened to my earlier advice about getting a different car, I couldn't just drive up to the place I'm going to, in your Mercedes. It's not far and I promise that you can totally straight jacket me and lock me in a cushiony room if anything happens to you. Okay? Now can you please just follow me…my wrist can't take much more of this."

"First, tell me where we are going. If I deem it safe enough I will continue. There is no need to put myself in unnecessary risk for something superficial."

I sighed, messing with my earlobe a bit before turning away from him.

"We're going to a pawn shop. The boss is a friend of mine and he was willing to hold something for me. It just so happens that the place is in a not so nice neighborhood. If anything happens, go ahead and leave me behind. I'm willing to get thrown under the bus, besides I'm sure you have the key anyway."

I pulled on the cuff and he moved, so we soon arrived at the place. The little bell above the door chimed and a surprisingly young looking East Indian man walked out from the back room.

"Ah, good day Manny! I 'ssume you here for ya package. You 'ight on time I was 'bout at put it up."

I leaned over the counter and grabbed the man by the scarf he was wearing, pulling out a switch blade I had managed to hide in my shirt.

"Don't even start with me, Demetri. I know that accent's as fake as the supposed vintage 22 rifle you got hiding under the counter so you might as well drop it. That, and you _know_ what I'd do to you the moment you put it up."

He smiled brightly before walking to the back like I didn't have a knife at his throat.

"Sure thing Manny! I kept it back here just for you and I wouldn't sell it without your permission anyway."

I hid my knife and talked to L behind me, knowing that he was probably confused with what just happened as well as my attitude change.

"Manny's an alias I use around here. Background story is a retired thief for hire with a nasty reputation, so I have to keep up my act. Demetri was born and raised here and I can see the rifle from the reflection on the mirror in the corner. It's had it's barrel switched with another…more modern rifle. That, and even Watari wouldn't search where I keep this knife."

I turned back around with an evil smirk, knowing that I had answered all his questions before he even had a chance to ask. Demetri returned and set the violin case down on the bulletproof glass countertop and I opened it up to check for damages. Everything seemed fine, but just when I was about to close the case and leave, an old…acquaintance walked in through the door.

"Hey, Demetri! I heard Manny was poppin' by and…"

He trailed off the moment he and his cronies caught sight of me and I immediately grabbed L and the violin case and hid behind the counter, pulling Demetri down just as bullets crashed into the wall and antiques above us. Sighing, I glared at Demetri who just smiled.

"Friends of yours, Manny? You're paying for the damages you know."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I just wish I didn't have to use this so soon."

I reached into the violin case, removing the back cover, revealing the parts for an AK-47. L looked like he was going to run right there as I assembled it in record time and began shooting back. I didn't hit a single major organ, aiming mostly for their arms or legs, and they soon drove off. I stood up, but ended up being pulled back down because L hadn't moved from his position on the floor.

"Hey, would you mind getting up? We can't exactly leave when you're stuck on the floor."

"Aw, come on Manny~ Your poor boyfriend probably just got the shock of his life. Give him a break!"

I took one look at L and he looked pretty calm to the naked eye, but I could see how white his knuckles were getting from holding his jeans while trying to stop his shaking. I reached in my pocket and pulled out the cash I had gotten from the bank, not even bothering to look at Demetri when I asked,

"How much for the damages if I let you keep the AK?"

"Hm…normally it'd be a good 5, 10 thousand bucks…but for you babe, 25 hundred should do the trick."

I quickly handed him the cash, taking what little amount I had left and stowing it in the violin case. I reached into L's pocket, scaring the living day lights out of him I'm sure, and pulled out his cell phone. I dialed the first number I saw and told the _exact _address for Watari to come pick us up. L didn't look in any shape to move at the moment, so we both sat and waited for the Mercedes to pull up in front of the shop.

"Hey, the old man's here. I promise I have no more weapons other than the switch blade, so let's hurry up and go before they come back with more fire power."

He finally got up and we headed out the door in a hurry. I was trying to keep a look out for more guys, but L was rushing and I didn't have a chance to see the man at the corner until the gun already went off.

"Watch out!"

_BANG!_

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry about the cliffhanger, but I couldn't help it ^^ that, and I was being rushed while writing this chapter, so I'll be sure to update again quickly. Please review too!<strong>_  
><em>


	6. Chapter 6

I managed to shove L and the violin case into the car, the cuffs forcing me to fall in as well. I pulled the door close as Watari quickly jumped into the driver's seat before driving off. A sharp, burning pain traveled up my arm and I sat back up to inspect the damages. A single bullet had hit me, going straight through the palm of my hand and out the other side. It hurt like hell and was bleeding quite a bit, so I quickly tore off the long sleeve of my shirt and began wrapping it to stifle the blood flow. Soon enough, L spoke.

"Minoru, what exactly just happened? I do not appreciate being put in such danger, nor do I like the fact that you went to go pick up a _weapon_. Your chances of being Kira have rose substantially after this incident, and certain measures will be taken to ensure the safety of myself and the other task members."

_Well, there goes my freedom. _I sighed loudly, nodding slightly after he had finished his rant and spotted Watari glaring at me in the rear view mirror; no doubt questioning the safety of L being in the backseat with me.

"We were obviously shot at. I mean seriously, are you really a top detective? You can't even figure that out."

I had my hands in the air palms up, in a shrugging motion, smirking at L who was obviously not happy with my answer. I put my injured hand down and waved my other hand in a circle at him.

"Fine, fine. Not the answer you were lookin' for. I get it…Okay, look, the name 'Manny' may be an alias, but the back story is completely true. I used to be a thief for hire back when I first was thrown out. It was the only way I was able to survive out here. Money was scarce, but food was even scarcer to those who lived on the streets…But anyway, I was hired by a certain group to steal something from a rival of theirs. I won't say name, because even a thief like me keeps client's information confidential, but those guys who shot at us…well, _me_, were from the rival group. They managed to get a good look at my face and I guess, _someone_ let it out that I was heading there and they decided to get rid of me. Simple as that. I _do _apologize for getting you involved, though. If I had known, I wouldn't have gone, let alone drag you into my problems."

I was looking out the window at this point, playing with my ear as I watched the scenery change to that of the hotel. I reached down to pick up the violin case as Watari opened the door, but L beat me too it.

"There's a 34% chance of you having another weapon in here, and I'm not willing to take any more chances with you."

_Ouch, that kind of hurt._ I regretfully turned towards the hotel with L behind me, but began to stumble as my vision swam. My hand had already bled through the cloth and standing up, let alone walking, would surely end up poorly. I felt hands wrap around my waist to support me and saw L handing off my case to Watari, as we headed up to the room. I chuckled slightly when we got into the elevator.

"You can search that case all you want, but you won't find anything. Just…make sure you don't do anything to the violin…It was my…mother's."

Needless to say, I had passed out before reaching the room.

* * *

><p><em>The sound of a violin drifted through the house. Mother was playing Ave Maria again. I ran up the stairs to her room, tossing my school bag in the corner, wanting to see her as she became absorbed in the soft melody. The song finished and she turned to me and smiled sweetly, but suddenly she was covered in the blood that poured from her neck. <em>

"_Momma?"_

"_It's all your fault, you know." A voice said from behind her._

"_She would've been saved if you hadn't been so selfish."_

_A dark figure stepped out from behind her and when they stepped into the light of the blood covered room, I came face to face with myself._

"A second Kira?"

The yells from the task force were enough to shock me out of my nightmare and cause me to fall harshly on the floor. I curled up around my bandaged wrist trying to stop the pain that had begun to travel up my arm. I felt a hand on my shoulder and flinched at the contact, still scared out of my mind despite knowing that it was Matsuda.

"A-Are you okay, Minoru?"

I nodded slightly and turned to L who was sitting in his chair, eating cake and watching me with and expression of interest.

"W-Where's my violin?"

He seemed shocked at the stutter but turned around and nodded to Watari, who left the room and returned with the case. It had been tampered with, seeing how my stash of gummy bears was missing, but that didn't matter to me right at that moment. I hugged the case close to my chest and stood up to walk to another room, but a clatter told me that I wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. L had chained my foot to the couch.

I twisted my body to look at him, but he had already ignored me and began talking about the Kira case again. _I could drag the couch _I considered, but I decided to curl up on the couch before I did something regrettable. I laid down facing the couch and curled around the case, listening to what L was saying to keep from hyperventilating.

"They were convicted of only minor offenses and the person charged with possession of drugs was reported in a women's magazine. The only time this criminal was shown on TV was in a talk show on April 13th. Isn't that weird?

"Also, the two employees of Taiyou TV did nothing other than publicly criticize Kira. A real Kira would not kill critics. He could probably care less."

I squeezed the case tighter and tried to connect the dots to all the information. _So, because this Kira is killing innocent people and smaller criminals he or she is a fake. That makes sense. Like L said, Kira wouldn't bother with the small people. It is possible that this Kira is a woman. It would explain the women's magazine completely and the almost adoring actions. That, and I don't know any _man _who would get his boxers in a bunch about someone criticizing their hero._

"It's gotta be a fan girl."

The room around me grew quiet and I realized that I had said that last part out loud. The quiet room was screwing with my nerves and I could feel the panic attack coming back as my nightmare flashed through my head again. My breathing got faster and my body began to shake slightly, when L spoke to me.

"How did you come up with that conclusion, Minoru?"

"The woman's magazine a-and this Kira adores the real one. No guy I know would get this upset about a simple criticism…T-Too much pride."

The room grew more animated as they tossed this theory around, but I felt eyes on my back. I turned my head around, still trying to control my breathing when I spotted L looking at me while biting his thumb. The sights and sounds around me began to blur, all of them mixing with one another. I knew they were talking about the case, but I couldn't quite pick out words. All I could hear was my rapidly increasing breathing. A voice in the distance was calling me, but I couldn't respond. It felt like my body was shutting down when a cool hand placed on my arm and a voice spoke.

"Minoru, are you alright?"

It was L. I knew that, but I couldn't focus as the scenes from my nightmare haunted me. I vaguely felt him shaking me and a bright light finally shook me out of the attack. Watari was standing there with a flashlight and a hand on my wrist with L next to him.

"Is she okay now?"

"She's calmed down, but she had a panic attack. I'm not sure what triggered it exactly, but we need to keep a close eye on her for right now in case it happens again."

Watari helped me sit up and offered to get me something to eat or drink. I just clung to the violin case and brought my knees to my chest before saying anything.

"I-I want m-my gummy bears and…I want to p-play."

I trailed off, looking down at my violin case.

"Watari, could you get her gummy bears and I'll leave you in charge of watching her in another room so that this doesn't happen again."

"Of course."

He bent down and removed the cuff on my leg before leading me to a room down the hall. He glanced at me with a gentle look in his eyes before asking,

"I will go retrieve your food and I trust you will stay in this room, yes?"

I nodded and pulled out the violin the moment he was gone. I placed the brilliant rosewood violin under my chin (careful of my injured hand) and placed the bow gently on the strings playing a single note. That single note sent my bow across the others in a fury as I began to play The Devil's Trill by Tartini. I never noticed Watari come in and stand just inside the door, nor did I realize that the whole task force could hear me, and personally, I didn't care.

Tears streaked down my face as I remembered my mother the way she used to be and when the tune finally ended, I was met with the sound of a single man applause. I smiled slightly as I set the violin in its case and Watari came over with my gummy bears.

"Do you feel better now?"

"Yeah…Thanks for the gummy bears and everything."

"You're welcome. We should return now that you've calmed down. I'm sure they would like to compliment you on your performance as well."

"I should've guessed they could hear me. Oh well. At this point, as long as I have my gummy bears I'll be perfectly fine. I mean, it's not like Kira's been invited to join the task force or something crazy like that, right?"

I laughed it off as a joke, but little did I know, that was what was happening exactly.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for the crazy cliffhanger in the last chapter. I seriously couldn't help it! But, as promised, I have updated with an insane chapter...at least I think so ^^ so please review!<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

I was chewing aggressively on the head of another gummy bear as I sat chained on the couch. Light had been invited to the hotel room earlier, hearing the end of my violin playing, and had begun to watch the videos from the second Kira. I spotted L-Ryuzaki, I mean, eyeing my gummy bears and stood up to sit beside him, holding out the large bag for him to take some. He grabbed a few and I crossed my legs and watched as he confronted Light about the videos.

I must say, it was quite enjoyable to watch these two mentally attack each other but I was getting bored fast. My gummy bears were finished off so I decided that exercising would be a good idea. My ankle chain was just long enough for me to get behind the couch, where there was more room, and allowed me to do handstands as well. I smiled to myself as I began my strenuous workout consisting of push ups, sit ups, one armed handstand push ups, and meditation. Sure, I got a few curious looks from Light and the rest, but I felt so much better being able to move around again even if Ryuzaki still thought I was Kira.

"That reminds me, Ryuzaki, who is this and what is she doing here?"

"Light, this is Minori and she is suspected of being Kira. Therefore, she has been restrained and is under constant surveillance."

I wasn't going to question the change in name, so I just greeted Light with a stoic expression.

"Nice at meet ya, Light."

"Um, is there a reason why you're doing a handstand?"

"Because I wanted to see if you still look hot from a different angle."

Everyone sweat dropped except for Ryuzaki before I finally stood upright just long enough to collapse on the couch. It was then I felt the pain from my injured hand and brought it up to see blood soaking the bandages again.

"Ka whoops…Hey, Ryu, I may need more bandages and a painkiller. My hand's a leakin'."

He sighed and got up to get them, since Watari was no where to be found at the moment, and that's when the task force decided to ask the fated question.

"What happened to your hand, Minori?"

"Oh this? Ryu and I got shot at the other day when I went to go pick up my violin, gummy bears, and AK-47. Why? Does it look that bad?"

"Did you say AK-47?"

"Yeah. Is that weird or something? I thought everyone had a weapon or two up their sleeves."

"No! AK-47's are illegal in Japan! No one except the police or military are allowed to own one, yet alone an under aged woman!"

_Oh no he didn't._ I thought. _I'm sorry Mr. Yagami, but you're going down!_

"Excuse me? Do I detect some sexism in that statement Mr. Yagami?" He visibly paled under my gaze, as I rested my elbows on my knees and laid my head on interlocking fingers. "Last time I checked, we are in the 21st century and sexism is a thing of the past. That, and I am not under age. I happen to be twenty for your information and expect to be treated as such."

They all looked at me shocked for my abrupt change in character, when Ryuzaki returned with the bandages and a bottle of pills. I went to unwrap my hand, but he sat in front of me and did it himself; effectively unwrapping and rewrapping it to perfection. I silently wondered why he'd be so nice to me when I was pretty sure he thought I was Kira, but I ignored it and took the pills. When I almost instantly became drowsy, he gave me an odd look.

"Medicine makes me drowsy okay…"

"But it's just a painkiller. It has no side effect of drowsiness that I am aware of."

"So? Have you ever been verbally abused by a mime?"

"No, but what does that-"

He was cut off as I fell back onto the couch with a smile adorning my face. _Wait till he figures that out._

* * *

><p>I woke up and yawned loudly as I squatted next to Ryuzaki again. The familiar writing of the second Kira was on the screen of the laptop. My stomach churned uncomfortably for some reason but I ignored it for now, deciding to be more focused on the Kira case in order to prove my innocence and to get out of this chain. I was starting to get too comfortable in Ryuzaki's company and the last time that happened, it didn't end too well.<p>

"I want to meet Kira. I think Kira still doesn't have the eyes, but don't worry! I won't kill Kira no matter what!"

_Eyes? Is that a metaphor? And if so, for what?_ The others seemed to echo my thoughts about the eyes, but Ryuzaki was as silent as ever.

"When we meet, we can confirm our identities with our Shinigami."

Just as I was about to ponder the supposed metaphor, Ryuzaki began screaming and flailing about. This ended poorly for me as he fell out of the chair, landing on top of me with an elbow in my gut and the chair crushing my legs.

"Shinigami…Is he saying that shinigami are real?"

"It doesn't matter if they're real or not…'cause you won't be alive to meet one if you don't get off me!"

He got up and fixed his chair before doing something I didn't expect. He held his hand out to help me up. I stared at it for a minute and just when I went to accept it, my stomach decided to make its upset presence known.

"Oh shit…What door's the bathroom?"

"Second door to your left, why?"

"Excuse me while I borrow your couch."

I ran to the couch, flipped it over on its side, and hurriedly pushed it through the door and out the hall. I left it out in the hall and luckily the chain was long enough to allow me to reach the toilet as I emptied my stomach. I was surely in there for a good ten minutes or so when I finally cleaned myself up and heaved the couch back to the main room, where everyone was waiting. I didn't even bother to put the couch back where it was, I just brought it close enough to Ryuzaki so I could lay down below his little perch. Something irritating poked me in the forehead and when I didn't respond, it continued to prod me. Finally, I opened one eye and looked up at Ryuzaki as he leaned forward precariously on his chair.

"You know that by poking my head repeatedly I'm slowly losing brain cells, right?"

"Impossible, but that is besides the point. I could have removed the chain and allowed you to use the restroom if you'd asked."

"Takes too long…Ugh, my stomach hurts…Damn you gummy bears and your sugary headless goodness."

"Um, not to intrude, but are you alright Minori?"

I glanced over at Light and quickly covered my eyes with my hand.

"Ah! Help me Ryuzaki! I can see the light!"

I grinned, knowing Light was probably regretting that he'd cared when I felt Ryuzaki lift my hand from my face.

"Minori, please respond to Light's question. I also wish to know how your health is."

"Fine. My stomach feels like I ate a box of razor blades. My head's killing me and it's gotten awfully cold all of a sudden."

I shivered when I finished and could feel the task force's stares on me as someone's hand rested on my forehead. It was Light again and just as I was about to crack another joke, he spoke over me.

"She's got a fever Ryuzaki. It's possible she has a cold or a stomach flu of some sort and she should really get some rest. Being chained to a couch will obviously not help her situation."

He was probably looking at me, but I was too busy tying Light's shoelaces together to notice. _Heh, he has no clue what I'm doing to him. Poor clueless Light._ I thought…It's not like I hate him or anything. He just seems too perfect to me. He's obviously never know hardship and I felt like giving him some would just make my day. Yeah, I can be a jerk like that. Besides, Ryuzaki didn't mention anything about what I was doing when he spoke.

"You are right. I will take her to a bedroom and make sure she rests. Excuse me."

My chain was undone and when I was going to get up, he picked me up instead.

"I can walk you know."

"Yes, I am aware."

There was silence for a minute as I had expected him to do something, but that was apparently the end of his side of the conversation. Just as we headed into the hall, we heard a thud from the room behind us, along with Light grumbling and Matsuda laughing. I chuckled lightly, completely forgetting that I was being carried when I heard a single syllable laugh from none other than Ryuzaki. Glancing up, I saw a small quirk of his lips and smiled to myself. I had gotten the biggest puzzle in my life to show some emotion. _Cool._

* * *

><p><strong>I couldn't help but add a few jokes in this one. Minoru's suppose to be sarcastic and serious at the same time and I felt like she hasn't been showing enough of that. Oh, and her 'Kira safe' name is Minori. It's not a type-o or anything just to let you guys know. ^^ Please review too! I haven't been getting a whole lot after posting the fourth chapter so I'm beginning to <strong>**worry something I wrote wasn't exciting enough or something...oops, I'm rambling, but yeah review!**


	8. Chapter 8

It took a few days for my stomach to finally calm down. Apparently eating a whole bag of gummy bears that expired almost a year ago is a horrible idea and Ryuzaki, the lucky bastard, only had a couple so he was completely fine. But the point is, those couple of days, stuck in a room with nothing to do gave me a lot of time to think, and when I think, I come up with ideas that usually lead to mischief. Poor Ryuzaki was going to learn what happens when I am left for days on my own.

"Light and Matsuda are going where?"

"Aoyama to try and find the second Kira."

"Can I go? I've been cooped up in here forever and I want to stretch my legs a little. If Matsuda's there, he can keep an eye on me and who knows, I'm pretty observant and I might be the one to find the second Kira. I'll even bring you back a souvenir!"

I kept bugging him until the fated day when he seemed to consider letting me go. Eventually he agreed, probably because he wanted to get away from me, but I'm not going to complain since phase one of my plan is now complete. When I joined up with Light and his little group of friends, I was introduced as Matsuda's younger brother (I didn't mind) and we soon made our way through the populated area.

I went to Aoyama before, but I never got a good look around. Clothing stores, cafés, and restaurants littered the path so I stayed near the back to take in my surroundings. After a while, I managed to locate my escape route and pulled out my phone to write a quick text to a friend; one that Ryuzaki wouldn't be able to decipher.

"**Fox lives on Blue Mountain. Needs to go to the den. Get rid of the Beast. Clock set to five."**

I continued to walk with Light's group, being sure to stay just barely in Matsuda's line of sight in order to not be suspicious. About five minutes later, when Matsuda's eyes were on Light and the crowd was thick, I disappeared through the growing crowd. No one shouted or made any notice of my disappearance as I ran along the paths to a crowded corner where a sleek black motorcycle awaited me. I signaled to the driver and we speed off, leaving a poor confused Matsuda on the phone as he searched left and right for the run away Kira suspect. _Sorry Ryuzaki, but I still haven't gotten that bastard back for putting a hole in my hand. You better take care of my violin 'cause I'll be back._

* * *

><p><em><strong>One Week Later<strong>_

"Wow, it's been a whole week…He's so gonna kill me."

I pinched the bridge of my nose as the elevator doors opened and I stepped out onto the lush carpeting of the hotel hallway. It took me a while to locate this particular hotel, thanks to Ryuzaki's so called 'hotel hopping' but I found it and now I'm about to face my doom.

I now stood just outside the door to his room, which I discovered by sweet talking the receptionist in the lobby (since I look like a male anyhow). I was going to knock, but that wouldn't be me. So, I cracked it open and snuck inside the pitch black room without catching anyone's attention, despite the small trail of light I had let in. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw the task force standing around Ryuzaki while looking at something on the large TV screen.

I didn't spot Mr. Yagami, but I did manage to find Matsuda standing next to Ryuzaki. I casually walked up behind him, pulling out a couple pieces of licorice from my pocket; shove one in my mouth and held the other in front of Matsuda's face.

"Want some licorice?"

"No, I'm okay."

"Suit yourself."

I nibbled on the licorice as all eyes came to me, then Matsuda shouted, finally realizing what was going on as he pulled a gun on me.

"W-Who are you? How did you get in here?"

The lights were turned on as the others pulled out their weapons, pointing them directly at me.

"Ah, right. I forgot about this."

I fiddled a piece of my slightly longer, now fiery red hair in between my index finger and thumb just as I remembered something. I began searching through the large trench coat I was wearing, completely ignoring the shouts to freeze but stopped immediately when someone got trigger happy. A silenced gunshot went off and I felt a sharp pain coming from the side of my head. I paused in my search and brought one hand up to find a steady trickle of blood coming from my ear.

"Aw, now that's not nice. I was planning to get another piercing there. Besides, I was just trying to get Ryuzaki's present. I did promise him a souvenir after all."

I ignored the pulsing sensation coming from the half circle hole in my ear and began searching again. They all raised their guns, until Ryuzaki held out a hand.

"Wait…Are you possibly Minoru?"

"It's about time you figured it out. I just got back at the last people who put a hole in me and here you are adding another. Ah ha! I found it!"

I finally pulled out a bag full of gummy bears and a small stuffed panda. I handed it over to Ryuzaki, who looked at me like I lost my mind as the others lowered their weapons.

"It's okay. I checked the expiration date on the gummy bears before hand. They're good for at least another month…and the panda just reminded me of you. It's got your eyes and your hunched over position! Isn't that cool?"

He held them both like they were disease covered, but went over to the table and set them down before turning back to the TV screen.

"Watari."

"Yes sir."

The voice came from directly behind me and before I could turn around, something hard collided with the back of my head and I blacked out. _Should've seen that one coming._

* * *

><p>I awoke groggily with a large bruise on the back of my head. A good look at the room alerted me that I was handcuffed in yet another cell. There was a bed screwed to the floor on one side and…well that was just about it. I wasn't too surprised, since it was expected after I had disappeared for a week. That, and I'm used to being in a jail cell. I nodded to myself as I sat up on the edge of the bed, quite happy with my accommodations. Personally, as long as I have a pillow I couldn't care less. Just then, a mechanical voice spoke from the camera in the corner of the room.<p>

"Minoru, I have a few questions for you and I suggest you cooperate."

"I'll answer them if I have reason to. Oh, and my name's not Minoru anymore. I had it changed since I'm not a Kitamura anymore. You can call me Kitsu."

"…"

_Woah, did I already stump him?_

"Then…Kitsu, how did you disappear at Aoyama?"

"Right. I guess you want to hear the whole story then?"

"Yes."

I was about to explain the text message and everything that I did while I was out of sight that week, but that would be too easy.

"Well, it all started when a man and a woman got together and had se-"

"That's not what I meant, Kitsu."

"But isn't that where it all begins? Or do you want me to start with how the universe was created?"

I could hear him grumbling about having to deal with me on the other end while I just laughed.

"Ah, it's all good, Ryuzaki. I'll tell you. You read the text I sent yes?"

"**Fox lives on Blue Mountain. Needs to go to the den. Get rid of the Beast. Clock set to five.** Yes."

"Well, my new name ties into this. I am the fox. The blue mountain is Aoyama broken down. The den is my hide out that I'm not going to tell you about since I have to many people there that you can screw over, and the 'clock set to five' means five minutes."

"What about the 'Beast' as you put it…"

"The Beast is the whole reason I disappeared in the first place. It's all over the streets now and I'm surprised you haven't heard about it on the news. There was no way I was gonna let them thugs get away wit' puttin' a hole in my hand."

I snarled the last bit as I switched into my broken slang and let Ryuzaki soak up that information for a while. Finally, he responded.

"I see…Do you know why you're in here?"

"Hm…well, I'm sure it's for multiple reasons. One, I escaped. Two, I'm a threat. Three, you felt you would go insane if you we stuck with me for too long and four, I'm a Kira suspect. I've practically asked to be thrown in here."

There was silence on the other end and I decided that I was bored. I laid down on the bed and curled my legs up to my chest while simultaneously stretching my arms down, until I was able to pull my body through the gap between my arms. With my cuffs now in front of me, I walked up to the bars of my cell and began making music as I clanked the cuffs on them, rattled the chain, and pounded on the floor and wall. I was smiling to myself until I heard a "Shut up!" in the distance. _Guess Light's stuck in here with me._

"What's wrong Light? Don't like my music?"

"No! That's not music! It's just noise!"

"Oh yeah? Well at least I'm not gay!"

"I'm not gay!"

"Are so! You're last name proves it!"

It was silent for maybe a few seconds until I heard a loud "Argh!" from his side of the hall. I laughed and stopped clanking my cuffs on the bars, abruptly ceasing my laughter when I realized something.

"Ryuzaki! I need something!"

"…What?"

"Can I get a puzzle? Like a _really_ hard one! Oh! I know, a blank one! All black!"

"Kitsu, you are a Kira suspect which, after being confined, has stopped the Kira killings. You are not getting entertainment."

"The killings have stopped? Woah…but you got crazy Light in here too, so it's not that bad."

"Hey!" echoed down from the hall.

"Shut up Light! We all know you're insane!…Anyway, wouldn't it be better if you got me a puzzle or two? It'll keep me entertained for a while and you saw what happened when you kept me cooped up for three days. I disappeared for a week."

"I never forced you to stay in that room for three days. You were ill."

"And? I was still bored. Besides, I can find multiple ways to keep myself entertained with a mere puzzle. I could do it without the edges, hands behind my back, eyes closed, upside-down-"

"No, Kitsu. That is final."

"Okay~ But don't regret it. My bored limit is a week. Once it gets past that you'll seriously wish you never left me here with nothing to do."

I was all smiles before, but my boredom always comes with a price.

* * *

><p><strong>I couldn't help but put in that 'Yagami' backwards is 'im a gay' pun ^^ It's hard to come up with decent Light jokes off the top of my head. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll explain the whole name change thing further on in the story. So please review!<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

"Hehehehe."

"Is there something you find funny, Kitsu?"

"Woof!'

Yep, that's right. I had finally lost it. I had no idea how long it took, but Light had snapped a while ago and I could still hear him yelling from down the hall whenever Ryuzaki questioned him. Oh, and my bandages had finally been removed now that my ear wasn't bleeding all over the place. Stupid trigger happy police…Anyway, I guess a recap of my latest escapades should be in order.

I have done everything I could possibly do all alone in a cell. I did impersonations, exercises, holding my breath, dancing, singing, tried not to think of penguins, argued with myself, stopped talking to myself, hallucinated, pleaded the fifth, saw how long I could stay awake, spun in circles till I collapsed, counted to a billion, and currently I was being a dog. I'm not saying I went insane, I just succumbed to the boredom and did something different every once in a while. I have to say though, my escape attempts were by far the most fun that I had since I was put in here.

My first attempt was one of the reasons that my meals became…mush. Watari had actually provided us with nutritious meals ranging from soups and pastas, to fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Smart little me took the bone of the chicken, sharpened it, and tried to use it to pick the lock. I was caught thanks to the camera and my food became even less appetizing. The second attempt consisted of starving myself and trying to squeeze through the bars. I actually got stuck partway through and Watari had to shove me rather harshly back into the cell.

My more recent attempt was a fun one. I had pretended to have a heart attack, and with the whole Kira heart attack thing, Ryuzaki freaked out. Watari was sent in and when he went to check my vital signs, I jumped up and ran out the door. Needless to say, I didn't get very far thanks to Watari's dart gun, and I was unconscious for who knows how long after that incident. The only problem now was, I had run out of ideas.

I dropped the dog act and went to pout in a corner of my cell. Ryuzaki must have noticed the change, because he asked that damn question again.

"Kitsu, it's been over a month and no criminals have been punished. Will you admit that you are Kira now?"

I turned my head around to stare at the camera, just as one final idea popped into my head.

"If I am Kira, will I be executed?"

"That is the most likely scenario, yes."

"In that case…I am Kira."

_That outta throw him in a loop._ I thought as silence echoed in my lonely cell. When it continued, I decided to go even further.

"I could even name every single criminal I've killed so far if you want me to…Otoharada Kurou, Shibuimaru Takuo, Lind L. Taylor, Shirami Misaaki, Masanaka Fumitetsu, Nishida Kyuu, Nambarakai Keijuu, Seta Osabuyoshi, Nakaokaji Matsushiro, Osoreda Kiichiro, Raye Penber, Arire Weekwood, Lian Zapack, Feddi Guntair, Toora Denare, Als Funderrem, Bess Sekllet, Fridge Copen, Halley Belle, Misora Naomi-"

"I've heard enough."

I stood from the floor and sat facing the camera with a bored expression on my face.

"What's wrong Ryuzaki. You don't sound too happy. Isn't this what you've wanted this whole time?"

"There's only two things I want to ask you. How did you do it…and why?"

I put my hand to my earlobe and fiddled with it, thinking of what exactly to say. I didn't know _how_ Kira does what he does, nor did I know why. So, I did the next best thing.

"I can't tell you how I did it…but I'm sure you can figure out why. I was bored."

I could hear Aizawa yelling at me in the background as Ryuzaki continued to speak.

"In that case, I am sorry about this Kitsu."

Watari had come to the door and blindfolded me, leading me to who knows where. I was put in a car and removed the cloth. It was just Watari and I, so I smiled and glanced out the window at the scenery. I enjoyed the silence, basking in the first sunlight I had seen in over a month

"Kitsu, I know it isn't any of my concern, but why are you smiling despite the fact that you're being sent to your death?"

"Heh, simple. This is the most fun I've had in ages and even though it's coming to an end, I'm going out with a bang. And who knows, I might be able to see my best friend and my mom again."

He stayed quiet until we stopped in a deserted area. He let me out of the car, pointing a silenced pistol out of his coat and aiming it at my head.

"Hey, Watari? Could you tell Ryuzaki something for me?"

"Of course."

"Take care of my violin and that he should finish those gummy bears today, since they expire tomorrow."

Watari looked startled for a minute when he asked me,

"How do you know what today's date is?"

"At the last stop light, the driver in the car next to us was wearing a watch. The time was 11:43 A.M. and the date was in the bottom right hand side."

Watari lowered the gun and replaced it back into his coat, smiling and shaking his head back and forth slightly. He gestured to the car and opened the door for me as I sat back down. We began driving again and I finally laughed.

"Did you finally figure it out? I mean seriously. I practically spelled it out for you!"

"You had me fooled, Kitsu. I never would have guess you had photographic memory."

"That's the reason I dropped out of high school, have frequent nightmares, and why I get bored easily. There are many horrors out on the street and I have to relive them daily. Keeping myself entertained is the only way to stay sane."

* * *

><p>"Do you really need to go this far, Ryuzaki?"<p>

"I think it's hilarious! Besides, at least you can move. I'm chained to the couch again.

"I'm not doing this because I want to, you know."

Yeah right. He totally stole this idea from me and now he gets to bug Light 24/7. Apparently, I couldn't be chained to them since I'm a girl and Misa _still_ couldn't believe that fact.

"I knew it, you are a pervert!"

I fell off the couch and planted my face into the carpet, laughing hysterically. Misa pouted in my direction before getting mad at Light, punching him ineffectively. I smirked evilly as I made my way over there.

"Misa, you're doing it wrong. If you want to punch him, at least do it right!"

I swung my fist into Light's stomach, causing him to fall to the floor in pain as Misa stared at me with wide eyes. I laughed loudly and turned to the Task Force.

"And that men, is how you effectively make 'Light' of the situation."

Light himself was in so much pain that he couldn't retort and Misa was at his side quietly trying to help. Something hit me in the head and I turned around to see Ryuzaki still holding his fist up, as I clutched my head.

"Don't pick on Light too much. I don't want to be dragging a corpse around."

"Sure thing, but in return-"

I was cut off when Ryuzaki reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a rectangular, blue and white shape. He must have read my mind, for he was holding a box of licorice out to me. I grabbed it and ripped the package open, chowing down on the red rope.

"_God_ I missed these."

"I thought you liked gummy bears, Kitsu."

I spotted Matsuda sitting on the couch near by and got in his face.

"I did. Until I ate a whole bowl full of expired ones and ended up sick for three days. Besides…" I said, stepping back from the scared to death officer. "…these are my second favorite."

I tuned back into the conversation Ryuzaki was having with Misa about Aoyama. Watching as he got closer to her face with every question, which put me on edge for some reason. That same uneasy feeling got even worse, and I'd finally had enough.

"She wasn't there, Ryuzaki."

All eyes locked on me as I nibbled on the end of the licorice, laying sloppily on the couch.

"What do you mean, Kitsu?"

"Exactly what I said. She wasn't there. Either that, or she was in disguise. I remember all the faces that were in our vicinity and none of them were hers. That was one of the reasons I went, remember? I was purposely looking all around our little group to find the second Kira."

"Yeah, but your other reason was to escape."

I glanced over in Light's direction showing no emotion. He was obviously still angry about the whole punch thing, but I could care less. It had gotten Misa's annoying voice to stop. Although Aizawa glanced thankfully at me when I did manage to shut her up, he looked about ready to explode when Ryuzaki continued to question her and that's about when Matsuda spoke up.

"Will you all just stop it with the homos, date, kissing, and MisaMisa already! This is the Kira investigation! You all need to be more serious about it!"

I didn't say a word as he grabbed Misa and shoved her out the door, locking it behind her. I did smile though. I'm sure I speak for almost everyone when I say that we were all getting tired of her.

"Light, are you serious about Amane?"

"No. I said this before, but it's one sided."

"Then, could you possibly pretend you are serious about your relationship? It's clear from the videos that she has some connection with Kira and that she loves you."

Something was wrong. I wasn't quiet sure what it was, but something about Light was different. Oh well. I'm not one to think about things like this very much, so I'll just ignore it until it's brought up.

I had somehow managed to zone out while Ryuzaki was speaking and when I reached to get another licorice, I came up empty handed. Scowling at the bag, I spotted the group standing around by his computer. I stood up from the couch, making my way over, when there was a tug on my ankle and I fell to the floor. Sniggering echoed until it became full on laughter. Glancing up, I saw Ryuzaki inches away from my face.

"Are you okay, Kitsu?"

"Hmph. I just wanted more licorice."

I pouted before taking Ryuzaki's hand and being helped up, sitting cross legged on the floor. He stared at me for a while and I stared back, matching his searching gaze. I realized at that moment that Ryuzaki had almost completely black eyes, but you could see a small ring of dark grey on the outside edge. I began to smile slowly when Light just had to go and ruin the moment.

"Um, Ryuzaki? I thought that was Minoru. Why is everyone calling her Kitsu now?"

"Ah, right. You were in confinement when we found her. She had her name changed, although, I am curious to know the reason as to why."

"Man, can't get anything past you can I. I changed my name for multiple reasons. I needed a change; the group I was with that week knew me by this name; and because of Kira."

I scanned the room, making sure everyone was listening because I really didn't want to repeat myself.

"Continue."

"Oh, right…I wondered whether or not getting my name changed would effect Kira's killing capability. For instance, let's say Ryuzaki was Kira. He knew that my name before was Minoru Kitamura and he knows what I look like, but because I willingly and legally gave up my name for a new one that he _doesn't_ know; would my first name be enough for him to kill me or would he have to figure out my new name in order to do so?"

"Interesting."

I nodded at Ryuzaki as he chewed his thumb and began thinking about my theory, when Matsuda shouted out.

"Then we should all just change our names!"

"It wouldn't work that way, Matsuda. If everything was that easy, then you're aliases would have kept Ukita safe from the second Kira. It's not just a matter of changing your name. It's a matter of actually _giving it up_."

He looked a little confused, so I quickly explained.

"I changed my name because I was no longer Minoru Kitamura. In my eyes, that name is the name of a person who died years ago and I didn't want to be tied to the past that went with that name. Minoru was an ignorant fool who ended up getting her best friend and her own mother killed. Kitsu is a bored, level-headed woman who will use her gift to bring Kira to his knees…Can I have some licorice now?"

I saw everyone sweat drop, but Ryuzaki nodded and actually unhooked my chain. I looked at my ankle and back up at him, noticing a small smile on his face before it disappeared and he returned to his computer.

"In the kitchen. Top right."

I ran to the kitchen and found a huge see threw container of licorice, practically jumping for joy. I went to the fridge then, and grabbed a huge piece of the strawberry cake and a fork. _Hm, to tease or not to tease. That is the question…_ I grabbed a second fork and headed out, setting the cake down in front of Ryuzaki before sitting next to him on the floor.

"Thank you, Kitsu."

I reached my fork out and took a chunk of the cake myself, grinning at Ryuzaki's shocked face.

"No, thank _you_."

_For the cake. For the room. For being here for me when my own father wasn't…For everything._

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for taking so long. I had to figure out the many crazy things Kitsu did in jail and it wasn't easy. But please review and I apologize if the ending was a bit mushy.<br>**


	10. Chapter 10

"Um, why am I here again?"

I stared at Ryuzaki from the opposite couch watching as he ate the strawberry that was left from his cake. He swallowed but kept the fork on his bottom lip as he spoke.

"You're here because I need to keep an eye on you and Amane wanted to have a date with Light."

"This doesn't feel like a date like this."

I glanced in her direction as she glared at me. She too didn't like it when I took a shot at Light and had properly glared at me every chance she got. Then, I smirked evilly causing her to scoot back a bit.

"Oh, but Amane, it would be a date if you were doing it right. Aren't you supposed to be doing it like this?"

I got up and walked over to Light, whose eyes widened significantly when I took a seat on his lap, wrapping one arm around his waist and the other around his neck, playing with his bangs.

"K-Kitsu, what are you doing?"

I leaned close and whispered in his ear.

"Pissing Misa off, what else?"

His eyes widened even more, if that was possible, just as Misa had enough.

"What do you think you're doing you…you he-she?"

I laughed loudly, before stealing the two cakes she had left untouched and handing the strawberry one to Ryuzaki.

"He-she? That's the best you can come up with?"

I continued laughing as Misa became more enraged but Light, _once again_, killed my fun.

"More importantly, we moved here to a building that had more equipment, but you don't seem motivated, Ryuzaki."

"Motivation?…I don't have any. I'm actually quite depressed at the moment."

_Depressed? Ryuzaki? No way._ That's what I thought, but now that I was sitting next to him, he did seem a bit more…upset than usual.

"It's because I kept thinking you or Kitsu were Kira. It's just surprising that my theory is wrong."

I set down my fork, half of my cake still sitting on my plate and pushed it over to Ryuzaki before hopping back over to the other couch and hanging upside down. I don't know why exactly, but I felt that having the blood rush to my head might keep my stomach from churning after what he said. I understand _why _he suspects me of being Kira and I know the reasons behind everything. It's just, hearing him say it out loud without any emotion just kind of…hurts.

"Kira's power passes on from person to person."

"It's an interesting theory, but wouldn't that make it nearly impossible to catch him?"

"Yeah. That's why I'm stuck. Controlling someone to kill criminals and then if that person get's caught, the powers transfer to another and their memories disappear."

"Your getting narrow-minded, Ryuzaki."

They all turned to me, although Misa seemed clueless as to what was going on in the first place, but I didn't move from my position.

"How so, Kitsu?"

"You're so focused on us being Kira that you aren't thinking of all the possibilities. You know for sure that the memories of being Kira are erased and you also know that the powers are transferred to another person. What you're missing out on is the other possibilities on _how_ they were transferred. You said yourself, that you don't believe Kira could control people. You just think it's the most probable outcome, but what if Kira doesn't control people? What if they willingly gave up the powers, knowing that they would get them back somehow?"

I saw Ryuzaki peak under the table at me with a goofy looking smile on his face, before returning to his emotionless self.

"That is a possibility, but it's not a good idea to try too hard chasing Kira. We would be putting our lives at a greater risk, don't you think?"

He trailed off and I noticed Light get up. I sat right side up on the couch just as Light punched Ryuzaki, launching them booth across the room as they knocked over everything in their way.

"Aren't you acting childish? So many people have already gotten involved; the police, FBI, innocent bystanders, Misa, me, even Kitsu! And you're saying you don't feel like doing anything because one little theory was wrong?"

I wished I had some popcorn as I sat on the edge of my seat in an L style crouch, watching as Ryuzaki swung a kick up to meet Light in the chin.

"From the way you said it, you won't be satisfied unless Kitsu or I am Kira."

"Hm…That might be true…It's like I just want one of you to be Kira."

It was that statement that had me rising from my chair as Light went to deliver another punch and Ryuzaki went to kick him at the same time. Stupid move, but I would say they both needed something to snap them out of it and I needed a little waking up to do. Light's fist connected with my face and Ryuzaki's kick hit me in the ribs, and by the time they noticed what had happened I was already up off the floor and out the door; turning around for one last word.

"Enough."

* * *

><p>I had quickly made myself at home in a corner on the far side of the room, surrounded by licorice, books, and jigsaw puzzles. The task force knew better and left me alone, and the others learned to do the same. Light had tried to apologize once, but I ignored him. Misa tried to talk to me, but ended up getting an empty box of licorice thrown at her. Ryuzaki, on the other hand, hasn't moved from his seat where he stared at his computer screen. I could care less about what he was doing, since <em>he<em> was the one I wanted some sort of apology from.

I had gone over the whole conversation again and again, and discovered that Ryuzaki was just testing Light and I and had gone just a little bit too far. I would have assumed by now that Ryuzaki had figured out I wasn't Kira, since I had no changes in confinement like Light and Misa did and I've been under surveillance longer than them as well.

I grew frustrated with myself mentally arguing about the different reasons why I was acting this way, and proceeded to throw one of the puzzle boxes against the wall. The pieces were scattered across the floor and the only response I got from Ryuzaki was…

"Kitsu, do not damage my wall please."

I twitched once, before I just got up and walked out. No slamming the door or anything. Nope. I just left the room, got in the elevator, and headed to the roof. The best part is, I haven't been outside of any building in so long that I didn't realize that it was pouring outside. Thunder, lightening, the whole bit. And I didn't even care. I found yet another nice corner and curled up into a ball, staring out across the city.

The lightening streaked across the sky, lighting it up brighter than the sun possibly could. I began counting the seconds between the lightening and the thunder like my mother used to do. I got to seven before thunder rumbled like the beating of a drum in my core. I remembered how my mother used to tell me that thunder came from stampedes of buffalo running through the sky and that the rain was God crying about all the trouble happening in the world. It was then I realized that she'd never had a story for the lightening. It was always just _there_.

_Like me…I'm always just sitting around and people know I'm here, but I'm never truly acknowledged. I thought Ryuzaki would change that somehow…I thought I would finally be noticed…but all he cares about is his cake and Kira. I should've guessed that getting close to someone again would only cause me to be in pain. Just like Natsu._

I let myself shed tears, knowing that if anyone came up here they would assume it was the rain. A sharp wind cut through my simple clothing and I decided that I should return inside unless I wanted to be cooped up with a cold. I rose from my spot and headed to the elevator again. I became aware at that moment that Ryuzaki had never given me an actual room (or floor in Misa's case) and the only place I could return to was the couch sitting maybe a foot away from the man I didn't want to see. I sighed deeply, wincing when my battered ribs cried in protest after Ryuzaki's kick, before slowly sitting cross-legged in the corner of the elevator and closing my eyes to dream about my best friend, Natsu Pyne.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry about taking a while updating. I got hooked on a few fanfictions and couldn't stop reading them till I finished. I've heard a few complaints about my character, but hey it's fanfiction and I've seen worse so I'll try to work through these problems so bare with me. Anyway, the next chapter will go more in depth about Kitsu's past and what exactly happened and hopefully it will be a bit longer. Please review on this one though and tell me what you think! ^^ Although I apologize if this one came out a bit angsty.<strong>


	11. Chapter 11

"Mmm…Natsu!"

I sat up abruptly and glanced around the room I was in until my eyes landed on a crouched figure sitting not too far away and looking at me with his face lit up by the computer in front of him.

"Are you okay, Kitsu? You appeared to be having a nightmare of some sort."

I stayed silent, remembering that I was still waiting for an apology and noticing that the clothes I was wearing were not the ones I was wearing before. I stared at the blanket that had fallen off me while I fiddled with the hem of the long sleeved white sweater that smelled of sweets. I could still feel his gaze on me as I stood up and headed to the kitchen, hoping to find some hot chocolate since I didn't drink coffee. I had only been in there for a few minutes when Ryuzaki popped up behind me.

"Holy sh-Don't do that!"

"I'm sorry."

I looked at him and just _knew_ that he was apologizing for more than one thing. So, I pressed for a more definite answer.

"For what."

He stared at me for a minute, probably contemplating his response until he sighed.

"I apologize for scaring you and for kicking you. And, although you should not have attempted to stop Light and I in such a way, I apologize for saying something that upset you as well."

"Good enough for me."

I shrugged my shoulders, smiled, and ruffled his hair; which practically froze the poor guy. He must not be used to physical contact. Then, I continued my search through the cupboards for hot chocolate.

"Kitsu."

"Yo."

I turned around to find Ryuzaki holding just what I was looking for with a slight smirk on his face. I couldn't help but scowl as I took the container of hot chocolate mix.

"Think you're so smart, don't ya."

"Yes, actually. I do…but there is one thing I have not figured out yet."

"Oh something has stumped the great detective. Do tell."

"Who is Natsu?"

I stopped what I was doing, dropping my shoulders, and turning around to face Ryuzaki. It wasn't exactly a story I wanted to get into, but I felt as though Ryuzaki should know.

"Natsu Pyne. He was…just another street brat I suppose. When I first met him, I felt bad for the kid and helped him out. Probably one of the worst ideas I've ever had, too."

Ryuzaki had pulled a couple of stools forward and he sat crouched on one, gesturing to the other like he knew that this was going to be a long story.

"What happened, Kitsu?"

"Well, he started following me after that. My group even nicknamed him 'The Mutt' since he never left my side. It bothered me at first, but I grew used to it and we became friends, I guess. Anyway, one particular day my group and I had gone out drinking. It was maybe a week after my mother's death and they all knew how depressed I was. I ended up deciding to leave early and Natsu offered to walk me back. We had a short conversation about my mother and what she was like. Eventually, we were getting close to our place and I heard a car heading in our direction. It was late out and the area where we were was not populated much at all. So a car driving down the road was practically shouting 'Something's up!'. Of course, I was drunk and just stood there like an idiot as it appeared to be heading past us. I didn't even see them pull the gun out and try to shot me, but Natsu did and…he took the bullet for me.

That knocked some sense into me and I pulled out the pistol I keep on me, firing at their tires but I wasn't lucky enough to hit them. Oh, and it turns out, Natsu had fallen for me too. That was the last thing he told me…that he loved me. I felt so stupid for not even noticing. I was sitting there wallowing in self pity when I realized that I had one bullet left in my gun and pointed it at my head. Stupid idea, I know. My death wouldn't have solved anything, but I was too drunk to use any common sense.

I got lucky though. One of the guys had gotten out of control and had been kicked out of the bar early so he wasn't too far behind us. He saw me and stopped me from doing anything stupid, before he pulled me into a back alley as the cops arrived. Needless to say, I took out my frustration on the alley wall. Busted up my hands pretty good; broken bones, stitches, the whole bit. Pretty stupid, huh?"

"Quite, but your friend did what he felt was necessary and there is nothing about that that makes it your fault."

I looked at him, finding his face completely serious and I smiled of all things. I got up and finished making my extra sweet hot chocolate, pulling a piece of cake out of the fridge for Ryuzaki.

"It's just like you to know exactly what to say to me, L."

"I merely didn't know how you would've wanted me to comfort you. You do not seem to respond well to pity, so I did what I could."

I nodded and we sat in silence for a good while, contemplating. I soon finished my hot chocolate and Ryuzaki his cake, so we both headed back into the main room. Instead of sitting next to him or on the couch, I plopped down on the floor in front of him, resting the back of my head on his legs. I was somewhat surprised that he didn't say anything about it and even more so when he rested his chin on my head and reached around me to continue to type on his laptop.

"What are you doing?"

"You were in the way. I was simply continuing my work despite of this."

"Heh, hey L."

"Yes, Kitsu?"

"Thanks for listening."

"Of course."

* * *

><p>We were now in the month of October, and the bruises on my face and side had either disappeared completely(my face) or dulled significantly. Ryuzaki and I were on better terms now and I had plenty to do, what with all the puzzles and other things he'd gotten for me. Currently, he was watching me with that silly grin on his face as I was sliding across the marble floor in one of his rolling chairs. Light was practically the only one working at this point, so when he discovered something we were all paying attention.<p>

"What do you think, Ryuzaki? Do you have some motivation now?"

"If this does have something to do with Kira, then their intention is not necessarily punishing criminals but-"

"Personal gain? But if that's the case, then this isn't the same Kira that was punishing criminals. Cool."

"Yes, it is quite impressive."

I spun around in my chair again as Light began talking about how he did it. I noticed Matsuda trying to get attention too, but it wasn't really working out for the poor guy. I tuned back in to Light's conversation just long enough to discover that a business group called Yotsuba was prospering by the deaths of other company deaths. Interestingly enough, not all of the deaths were by heart attack.

"Which means Kira can kill people with more than just heart attacks!"

That statement alone got my mind working. _If Kira can kill with more than just heart attacks, then how many people have died by other means without us knowing? Naomi for instance. Kira must have found her and she had beneficial information that could potentially help us, so he got rid of her. L told me before that she wouldn't have committed suicide _on her own_. So does that mean Kira did it? What could she have discovered? I have to retrace her steps. If I do that, I may be able to find the first Kira before more people are killed._

"L? Can I get a laptop and a room to myself for a while? I'll also need anything on Naomi, as well."

"If that is what you want. Did you discover something?"

"Possibly, but I'm not 100% certain, so I will tell you when that happens."

"In that case, I will arrange everything you need."

_I will find you, Kira, so you better be watching your back._

* * *

><p><strong>Here's the next chapter! I would be updating more often, but the site I use for reviewing the manga has been down and it's a pain to find another. ANyway, please review and tell me what you think! ALSO, it's getting close to L's death and I want your opinions on what should happen. I can't decide whether or not I want L to die or if I want Near coming in early or if Near should even appear at all. If you have some advice, I'd love to hear it ^^<strong>_  
><em>


	12. Chapter 12

_Misora Naomi…There's not a whole lot about her that could be used in helping with the Kira case. _I had been going through every possible piece of information L had given me these past few days and have not came up with much. My boredom meter was filling fast too, so I was currently distracting myself with a game.

_Pew-Pew!_

_Pew-Pew pew!_

"No! Die you stupid things!…Ah crap, I died…"

I went to restart the game when I heard the distinct click of my door opening. The door was shut and I continued where I left off, shooting the aliens who were attacking my ship by slamming my spacebar over and over in a repeated fashion. I heard my new guests' shuffling but I completely ignored them, whoever 'they' were. Personally, as long as it wasn't L here to complain about my slacking off or that mafia group trying to kill me, I could care less.

They seemed to realize this too and when loud footsteps could be heard coming up the hall, they ran for cover behind the chair I wasn't using, a table, and my half-sized fridge. I didn't know how they'd gotten into the headquarters and, since I _really_ wanted to know, I decided to help them out a bit. I was in my own black muscle shirt and had continued wearing L's jeans, but I couldn't wait to see whoever busted through my door as I changed into L's white sweater. I'd just began pulling L's sweater on when Matsuda of all people slammed the door open and began shouting.

"Kitsu! Have you seen-"

Poor guy. The moment he realized I was changing his face turned so red I thought he was going to have a heart attack. He quickly closed the door, apologizing and scuffled back down the hall as I laughed loudly. My guests hadn't made a sound, which wasn't odd considering what I'd just done, so I went to have some more fun when a knock sounded through my door. I messed up my hair as I walked over and opened the door with a monotone expression on my face. It was L and Light.

"Do you need something, Ryuzaki, Light?"

The look Light gave me was _priceless_.

"U-Um, Kitsu? What are you doing?"

"Ryuzaki impersonations. Watch…" I picked up my cell phone like it was diseased and held it to my ear. "Yes, Watari? I wanted to know if you go and buy me more cake. It seems as though Kira is also killing off my cake supply and I cannot allow this to continue on without bringing Light to justice."

Light started chuckling, covering his smirk when L glanced in his direction before turning to me.

"That was not amusing, Kitsu."

"Oh? Then, how about some Light impersonations?" I stood up straight and brushed my hair back to a more dignified style. "Look, Ryuzaki. I don't know how to say this, but it's starting to get annoying with all your accusations about being Kira, so I'm just going to come out with it…I'm Kira! Mwahahahah! I killed all those people and I can't believe it too you this long to figure it out! Oh, and I'm gay~"

"Hey! I'm not Kira!…And I'm not gay!"

Just to piss him off more, I went back to L's impersonation.

"Is that so? But according to my deductive reasoning, you are the only one who could have possible killed my cake supply without my knowledge. You are now at 99.9%, _Kira._"

He groaned in frustration and pulled harshly at his hair while I just laughed it up. L seemed to enjoy it too, seeing how that goofy grin was back on his face.

"Haha…O-Okay. Now in all seriousness, what do you two need?"

"What did you do to Matsuda? And have you spotted some intruders…three of them to be precise."

Smirking, I answered back. "I haven't seen anybody really…and as for Matsuda, he's really got to learn how to knock. He caught me midway through changing, but he didn't see much except my stomach and maybe the edge of the boxer shorts I'm wearing."

I noticed L clenching his fists and he quickly dismissed themselves, leaving me to wonder what his hurry was before I went back into the room and locked the door. After all, I hadn't finished playing my game yet.

"Why did you do that?"

It was nothing more than a whisper, but I was some what relieved to know that my guests were finally speaking to me. His other companions were more cautious, but they too came closer to hear my response. I didn't turn away from my game, but I glanced at the young boy who spoke and his silent companions.

He was maybe 14 years old, with white hair, and wore all white, causing me to blink at the brightness that reflected from the light on my laptop. One of the other boys, all of them being around the same age, had brown hair and with goggles pulled over his eyes; wearing a black and red striped sweater and jeans. I silently wondered how he could see in the darkness of my room. The last…boy had bright blonde hair and was wearing dark leather. He didn't look too happy either, but the goggle kid was trying his best to keep him calm.

"How did you three get in?"

"What's it matter to you? Besides, we asked first!"

_Clack, clack, clack! Come on you stupid aliens, die already!_

"Actually, you're friend here asked first and technically I'm the one in charge of this situation since you three are in _my_ room and have broken in."

"Why you…"

_Seems I was right, he does have quite the temper._

"Ah, I'm kidding~ I helped you guys out 'cause I wanted to know how you managed to break in here…You want some licorice?"

The look on their faces, aside from the white haired kid. He's more monotone than L himself. I had just completed the next level of the game and paused it, passing the laptop to the goggles kid who'd been staring at it throughout this whole conversation.

"W-What…"

"You wanted to play, right? Go on ahead."

He looked confused, but soon began clacking away while I stood up and headed to the fridge for some milk Watari had bought me. I thought about the other two and turned my head towards them.

"You two want anything? I got cake, candy, chocolate-"

"You have chocolate?"

_Well, that didn't take long. Temper kid's got an addiction~_

"And you um…"

"Near…I don't want anything."

He was an interesting kid. Out of the three he has not apparent 'addiction' and he doesn't seem to fit in with the other two. I pulled out a bowl of cherries and sat to face Near, the bowl in between me and the three kids. Plopping a cherry into my mouth, I ate it and went to tie the stem like I had millions of times before. Taking it out, I spoke again.

"Near huh. Name's Kitsu. And you two?"

"I don't need to tell you anything!"

"Mello, relax. She's already given you chocolate and she's really helped us out so far. No need to go snapping just because she wants your name…My name's Matt."

"Hm, Matt, Mello, and Near. So how'd you three get in? They're obviously having a hard time finding you so it must've been pretty good."

I grabbed another cherry and continued eating as they explained how Matt hacked the security system and disabled the video camera feeds. All in all, I was pretty impressed that kids this age could do something this…amazing.

"Cool. So what'd you come here to find?"

"L."

Something was up here. If they came to find L, why were they running all over the building instead of talking to him? They'd already saw him when he knocked on the door earlier, but they didn't even peak from their hiding place. Maybe they don't know what he looks like?

"You…don't know what he looks like, do you?"

"So what? I don't see why we have to answer all your questions! We don't even know you!"

"Oh…well…do you guys like puzzles?"

I spotted Near from the corner of my eye perk up and I inwardly chuckled now that I had discovered his addiction. Me and him could really get along.

"What do puzzles have to do with anything?"

"Calm down, Mello. I'll tell you a few things about me, okay? I'm 20. Love anything candy, especially licorice. I used to love gummy bears, but I ate a giant bag of expired ones and my stomach didn't agree with them since. I am an ex-thief and hacker. I've been homeless more than half my life and am suspected to be Kira."

"What?"

_I knew that would throw them in for a loop._

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for taking so long. I had a total writers block melt down, but I did put Near, Mello, and Matt in this one ^^ Tell me what you think and I'll try to update sooner!<strong>_  
><em>


	13. Chapter 13

"What? You three think I just waltzed in here with an invitation or something? I'm a Kira _suspect_. The only reason I'm not chained to Ryuzaki is 'cause I'm a girl and Light has a higher percentage of being Kira, according to L."

I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly, but continued to hold a large grin on my face. That is, until someone decided to interrupt our pleasant conversation. A semi loud beeping noise came from my laptop and I frowned as I glared at it from the other side of the, now empty, cherry bowl.

"Oh, what could he possibly want now?"

I grumbled as I stood up and grabbed the laptop as it's screen changed to a grey background, a black "R" in the center. It seems Ryuzaki didn't want them to know he was L.

"_Kitsu, I would like to speak with you and the guests that you have been hiding as well. Come to the main room. That is where I will be waiting."_

"Right. Forgot you put cameras in here. You're one paranoid little perv aren't you?"

He didn't bother answering and the screen returned to the paused game Matt was playing earlier. I toyed with my earlobe and stood up, opening the fridge and pulling out a strawberry crème cake before heading to the door.

"Well, come on. You heard the man. I'll show you to the main room and I suggest you don't say anything if you want to stay here more than a few hours."

They looked at me confused for a second, before shuffling out the door behind me. They knew, as well as I did, that Ryuzaki didn't want them here and would send them away the moment he see them. I, on the other hand, might be able to convince him to let them stay for a bit. They seemed interesting enough and the cake I had could help bribe him too.

By the time I had stopped mentally planning how I was going to convince L to let them stay, we had reached the main room. I immediately hid the cake behind my back and smirked at L.

"Yo!…Kinda dark in here, don't you think? What'd ya do with Light?"

"I'm right here!"

"Oh! There you are! You're so dim I almost didn't see you there."

He face palmed so hard I was surprised there wasn't a red handprint left over. I heard a slight chuckle behind me and spotted Matt and Mello with sly grins on their faces.

_At least somebody here has a sense of humor._

"Kitsu. I called you here to speak with you about your progress as well as our guests."

"Well…I don't have much as far a Naomi goes. All I managed to find out was that she may have been told something about what Penber had been doing. They _were_ supposed to get married, so it'd only be right if they talked a bit about what they did. Also, I started looking for any criminal deaths that happened during Kira's reign that were _not_ heart attacks and a particular bus jacking and thievery in the Kanto area caught my interest, but I haven't gotten any further than that since we had guests."

He nodded and mumbled a small "I see" before lifting his head and narrowing his eyes at the group standing a bit behind me. I spotted Matt glancing at Mello nervously while he clenched his fists silently. Near, on the other hand, was the epitome of calm.

"Near, Mello, Matt. You should not be here for any reason and I will be having Watari immediately get you a plane ride home."

"What? We just wanted to meet L!"

"He has no time to deal with your childishness, and we are all very busy at the moment and have no time to look after you."

I felt bad for the three. They tried pretty hard to get all the way here and now their idol was refusing to let them stay. They didn't even know he was right there in front of them. Sad really, but this is where I come in. I walked closer to him and pulled out the cake from behind me, automatically getting his full attention. I plopped down on the couch across from him, holding the cake just out of his reach.

"I got a proposition for you, _Ryuzaki_."

I pushed the cake slightly closer and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at me, before nodding to show he was listening.

"Let the kids stay. They could help me with what I'm doing and keep me entertained. It's quite beneficial to you, if you think about it. You won't have to deal with my shenanigans nor theirs. You have them making sure I don't do anything suspicious as a Kira suspect. You get this _delicious_ strawberry crème cake, and I won't tell them your little secret about L."

He brought his thumb to his mouth to contemplate what I had just said, but I'm not the patient type and sped up the process by pulling out my fork and reaching it towards the cake. His eyes widened and grabbed the cake before I got any.

"Fine. I will accept your deal."

"Yes! Thanks Ryuzaki!"

I ran over and hugged him in my moment of excitement, letting go to drag the three back to my room. I most certainly wouldn't be bored for a while.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Near. You got this puzzle piece wrong."<p>

I pointed out the piece and where it was suppose to go from my place upside down on the bed that had been placed in the room. I was in one of those "I'm tired but I don't want to sleep" moods and, even though two of the three stooges said I should get some rest, I would rather not end up with nightmares.

As far as the whole Naomi thing goes, we had discovered that the bus jacking was the most suspicious and when we traced it back, we discovered that Penber had been on the bus. The only down fault was, we didn't know if Light was also on the bus or not due to the faulty memory of the bus driver and of said person, who was less than willing to be convicted as Kira over such measly information.

"Hey. You're supposed to be sleeping. Ryuzaki's gonna get mad if we can't even get you to rest every once in a while."

I turned my head towards Matt with droopy eyes. The funny part was, I swear there was two of him; one slightly to the right of the other. It was probably from all the blood rushing to my head combined with a sugar high and lack of sleep, but I still couldn't help but laugh.

"Hahaha! Matt~ Stay still!"

He sighed and stood up from his game before grabbing Mello to help him. They managed to get me to lie down and I finally fell asleep only to be riddled by nightmares.

* * *

><p><em>I was standing on the roof of the headquarters as rain poured down. I could hear bells off in the distance, probably for a wedding or a funeral of some sort. The odd thing was, I couldn't see any of the city lights. It was just me and the lightning. Then, I was staring at a slightly hunched over figure who was standing next to me. His hair was wet from the rain and his shirt was clinging to his skinny frame, but his eyes were what surprised me the most. They were dead and full of sorrow, like me when my mother or Natsu died.<em>

"_Ryu-No, L, what's wrong?"_

_He turned towards me and hugged me unexpectedly._

"_What are yo-"_

"_I'm sorry, Kitsu. I'm so sorry."_

_What is he talking about? Just then, he let go and smiled sadly, stepping away. I reached out towards him, confused at his actions when he suddenly clutched his chest and collapsed._

"_L!"_

_I ran towards him, but wasn't able to reach him. A figure stepped out from behind him and I saw Light, grinning like a mad man. He cackled and began laughing maniacally before a shadow passed over him and I saw myself. My duplicate strode forward, grabbing my throat and pushing me against the wall._

"_What's wrong? Didn't expect to be the one who killed the man you loved?"_

"_Loved? What are you talking about? I didn't kill him! Light did! Kira did!"_

"_Ahaha! Still unable to recognize your own feelings! Don't you see? He died because of you. Just like Natsu and your mother. You could've saved them, but you just stood back and watched it happen without doing anything."_

"_No…No! That's not true!"_

"_Oh, isn't it? He's going to die by Kira's hands and you're going to sit there and watch it happen."_

_He shoved me towards the floor and I saw L's feet wiggling in front of me. I looked up and watched again and again as he died from heart attacks, tears streaming down my face as I desperately tried to reach for him._

"_L…"_

"-u!"

"_Don't die…"_

"-tsu!"

"_I think I lo-"_

"Kitsu!"

I jolted awake, covered in sweat as I heard a sigh of relief. The room was dark and I saw flashbacks from my nightmare happening all over again. I stood up, only to trip over myself.

"Hey! Where the hell do you think you're goin'?"

"Don't touch me!"

Mello's eyes widened in shock, but he quickly composed himself as I scrambled out of the room. I ran down the hall, hoping to reach the elevator and find an abandoned floor somewhere to 'hide' like a frightened child. And that is what I felt like; a child who wouldn't be able to do anything. One who has to hide from fears be they real or nonexistent.

I pushed the elevator buttons repeatedly, hating the few seconds wait that felt like hours as every shadow seemed to close in on me. The doors opened and I dashed inside, only to collide with the semi-hard chest of the one person I didn't want to see me like this. L.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry about the wait. I'm still trying to come up with ideas about what I'm going to do about L as well as his and Kitsu's <em>relationship<em> ;) Please review though! It's always great to read what others think about this ^^**


	14. Chapter 14

I immediately tried to pull away and run in the other direction, but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the elevator, closing the doors. I continued to struggle in his grip, forgetting any martial arts I knew that could possibly help in my hurry when the elevator abruptly halted. I was released as L stood in front of the buttons so I couldn't restart the elevator. I was going into full on panic attack mode as my breathing increased in speed and my eyes darted all over the cramped space. I could feel the walls closing in on me and didn't even notice when I curled up in a ball in a corner, shaking violently.

"Kitsu, you need to relax. You're having another panic attack. Focus on my voice. Focus on regulating your breathing. Please."

His ice cold hands gently held my face, forcing me to look at him as I struggled with the remnants of my nightmare. I vaguely felt his thumb caressing my cheek as tears streamed from the corners of my eyes. I had finally calmed down after a few minutes and he let me go, sitting down in his crouch next to me. He didn't say anything. Not an "Are you okay?" or anything and I really appreciated that. He wasn't pressuring me into speaking; he was hoping I would speak to him when I felt like it.

"Thank you, L. I'm sorry for bothering you."

"You are not bothering me, Kitsu…I just wish I could somehow assist you with overcoming your frequent nightmares."

I chuckled bitterly. He didn't know that this nightmare was entirely about him, nor did he know how I felt about him. He probably didn't feel the same anyway. I shivered when I thought about him dying over and over again, but stiffened when I felt him get closer; his legs and shoulders brushing mine. He saw me stiffen and went to scoot away.

"I apologize. You were shivering and I thought you were cold."

I grabbed the sleeve of his sweater and stopped him from moving further. He looked at me with the tiniest hint of confusion in his eyes, but didn't move even when I leaned against him.

"L, you know what happened to my mom, right?"

"…Yes."

"Is…Is it my fault?"

"I don't see how you could have possibly caused such a thing to happen to her. You were simply there at the wrong time."

"Yeah. I guess…Can you promise me something L? Can you promise me that-that you won't leave me alone?"

"Kitsu…"

I felt him move slightly and felt his hand cover the one I had on his sleeve.

"I can't promise…but I can try."

"That's all I need, L…That's all I need."

* * *

><p>I woke up the next morning on a couch, my head in L's lap.<em> Wait…What?<em> I sat up immediately with shock written all over my face for a split second before it all but disappeared. I looked at L and he stared right back with a steady gaze until I blinked.

"I win."

"What? Noooooooo!"

I gripped my head in fake agony as L smiled before he handed me a plate with _actual_ food. It was the biggest juiciest looking cheese burger I'd ever seen. Needless to say, it was gone in seconds, leaving the task force (including Mello, Matt, Near, and Light) in shock.

"How could she…"

"It's gone…"

I smiled innocently like the incident never happened when I though of something.

"Hey, Ryuzaki? Couple questions. How'd I get in here and why is _everyone_ here?"

"Everyone is here because I have to introduce you all to some new additions to the task force and I carried you in here after you fell asleep in the elevator, Kitsu."

I shrugged my shoulders, but on the inside I just about died from embarrassment and his nonchalant attitude. It was then that the door opened and two people walked in and introduced themselves.

"Name's Aiber, I'm a con artist. Nice to meet ya."

"I'm Wedy. I'm a professional burglar."

Everyone was in shock at this new information and I couldn't utter a word until my body began rebooting. When I could finally move I smiled and tackled 'Aiber' to the ground.

"Woah! It's nice to see you again too, my little fox."

I felt a glare on my back and rolled to the side to see Wedy with narrowed eyes. I got off Aiber and slowly began backing up with every step Wedy toke towards me.

"N-Now now, Wedy…No need to be so hasty!"

I was now running for my life around the room as Wedy chased me. Everyone seemed a bit lost and I turned around, dodging the fist she had aimed at my face. She continued to launch attacks at me and I continued to dodge while Aiber tried to calm her down verbally.

"Look! I'm sorry *block* about the whole stealing thing! *dodge* You should've told me you were getting it!"

"That's no excuse!"

She hit me hard in the stomach and I fell to my knees coughing slightly.

"Damn that's a hard hit."

"You've been neglecting your training, brat, and what is this I hear about the Yamaguchi? I told you not to mess with them!"

"U-Um…"

"She's right you know. You could've been killed, foxy."

_Great, she got Aiber on her side._

"It's not my fault! He shot me in the hand!"

I showed them my hand, which Aiber grabbed scrutinizing it. He dropped it and turned back to Wedy with a wicked looking grin.

"Looks like I'll be having a talk with them soon, eh Wedy?"

She just frowned and helped me up off the floor as Mr. Yagami spoke up.

"What just happened?"

I walked over with a hand on my stomach, sitting down in a rolling chair next to L. I sighed and leaned back my head waving my hand in a circle.

"Wedy, Aiber, and I go way back. Aiber taught me all about blending in and disguises and stuff when I tried to pick pocket him one day. He gave me a few tips but taught me more when I wouldn't leave him alone. Wedy…I went to steal something and we both ended up meeting part way through. It has kinda happened again, but I got to it before she did this time. Sorry about that."

She grumbled something incoherent that sounded like something about cameras and I had an epiphany about the case. I sat up straight only to bend over in pain. Wedy had definitely left a bruise.

"Kitsu?"

"Ugh, my bad…I just thought of something that could help. I'll be in my room. Nice to see you two again, Wedy, Aiber! Near, Matt, Mello come on! I think I have a lead!"

_If I can get the video feed from the streets surrounding the bus stations on that day, then I might be able to see who went on that bus. Then, I heard something about Naomi being at the police headquarters a few days later. I could get the camera feed there and follow her with any other cameras in the area if she left. This is perfect! I…I might be able to save L. No. _I will save L.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry about the cliffhanger in the last chapter. I would've updated sooner, but my email's being stupid and not sending me reviews so I had to check for them manually T_T but here's the next chapter! Review and tell me what you think about L and Kitsu's little elevator moment ;) and I'll see what I can do about not killing L since my readers are so adamant about him not dying ^^ <strong>


	15. Chapter 15

"How ya doing, Matt?"

"Pretty good. I just need to hit a few more characters and…Got it!"

I leaned over and glanced at the screen that showed four different windows showing the bus stop, the police headquarters, and the streets in either direction of the headquarters. Mello and Near were also closer now and both were watching the screen as people walked down the streets.

"Okay. Can you put camera one on the date Osoreda Kiichiro hijacked the bus? And see if you can get an angle that shows the inside of the bus. As for the street views and headquarters…hm, try two days after the FBI agents' deaths and we'll go from there since we don't know the exact date she went there. Then transfer the street views to my laptop so we can go faster."

Matt nodded and went to work easily sending the information. The three of them began watching the tapes for any sign of Penber and/or Light but they couldn't get a better view of the passengers in the bus and found little to nothing. I got Matt to hack the cameras at the stops the bus went to before picking up Kiichiro and they spotted Light, Penber, and some girl get on at the stop a little bit away from Light's house.

"So he did get on that bus."

"It still doesn't prove anything though, Near. We need actual proof that Light did the killing."

"Correct. Without knowing how he killed, we will not be able to convict him or stop others from doing as Kira has done."

I nod and returned to watching people walked along the streets. I had the video going slightly faster than the norm since it was cold and few people were wandering the streets that day, but the moment I spotted a dark haired female that matched the picture of Naomi, I smirked devilishly and slowed down the tape.

"Got her."

The other three immediately came over and we all watched as she entered the police building and left with Light, who had entered not much later. I quickly full screened the window and tried to get as much clarity on the screen as possible so I could read their lips if I needed to. Light and Naomi paused in their walking and I watched carefully.

"Dammit! What are they saying?"

"Calm down Mello."

I slowed down the video a tad and examined the way they moved their mouths to form words.

"I'm not 100% sure, but it looks like they're saying, 'What's your name, anyway?' Then she gave him a fake name. Now he's saying, 'Kira can do more than just kill the victim. He can control their actions.' Then, Naomi says something like, 'That's what I was thinking'…'to be able to control the victims before they die'… 'if I'm right, Kira can kill with more than just heart attacks'!"

_Just like I thought. She figured something out before we did, but how did she come up with this information?_

"What? But how could she have figured this out before L?"

I shrugged and continued watching the screen as it played everything in near slow motion. The camera's graphics weren't perfect and reading lips was hard enough without having to deal with blurriness and other factors, so this was going to take awhile. After about an hour I noticed Matt's eyes drooping and Mello trying to hide a yawn. They may be geniuses, but they are still kids and staying up for days on end like we have takes a huge toll.

"Got to bed, brats."

"What? No fuckin' way. I'm not tired and there's no way I'm gonna let yo-"

He was cut off as the yawn escaped his throat causing me to raise an eyebrow in his direction. He was about to start yelling again, but Matt stepped in and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on, Mello. You know she's right. Besides, I'm sure she would tell us if she found anything."

He grudgingly agreed and they went to bed, but Near just sat on the floor doing a white puzzle with the 'L' in the corner in black. I glanced at him, checking for any signs of tiredness or fatigue and I saw a few, but when I opened my mouth to say something, he beat me to it.

"Insomnia."

"You too? Man, and I thought L was influencing _me_."

He gave me a look (surprising right?) but quickly wiped it off and went back to his puzzle as I went back to the videos; playing music, but putting on headphones to keep from bothering the two who were sleeping.

* * *

><p>"<em>Ever since he told me about the hijacking, I've been bothered…Even if he didn't tell me his name, he did tell me that he was forced to show his badge to someone on the bus"<em>

I couldn't read what Light was saying since he covered his mouth, but I was excited about the fact that I had been right about Penber telling Naomi about the bus jacking. The one thing I couldn't figure out was, did Light remember talking to her about this? To me, it seemed like he didn't. The moment we discovered that Kira could kill without using heart attacks he was just as excited as the rest of us.

I focused again on the tape as I saw Light pulling a paper and pen out of his coat pocket. He was asking typical questions about the hijacking and I wasn't interested until I noticed he was checking his watch every once in a while, like he was in a hurry or something. Next, she tried to leave, but Light was being strangely persistent. I was eager to see why and just when he started to run up to her, the screen changed and the street was full of people walking around. I started searching frantically for Light and Naomi, but then I realized something. There was no snow on the ground. This was this morning's footage.

"You fuckin' son of a b****!"

Startling Near, I threw off my headphones and slammed the laptop closed. I picked it up and threw it across the room into a corner where it clattered to the floor in pieces, before I got up and left, slamming the door behind me. I was grumbling curses to myself as I headed to the elevator and went down to the main floor. Once there, I headed over to L and reached into his pants pocket while simultaneously scaring the shit out of him.

"Kitsu, what are you-"

I pulled out the key to the handcuffs and chained the sleeping Light to the couch before grabbing L's hand and pulling him to the elevator as we headed to the basement floor. You see, L was kind enough to give me my own personal gym and shooting range. The only thing was, being a Kira suspect I wasn't allowed to use the underground shooting range unless I had a task force member or Watari watch me. Therefore, I grabbed L so I could vent off all the stress that's been piling up.

I picked up two Kimber handguns, pulling the ear protectors over both our ears, and began taking out targets. Normally, I would've been having fun shooting at my personal targets that I designed to look like Light, but right now I was beyond pissed. L was probably scared beyond belief as I put bullet after bullet in between the cardboard Light's eyes and into his chest, until finally I ran out of bullets. Of course that wouldn't stop me, but the moment I turned around to get more L grabbed a hold of my shoulder.

"Kitsu."

I automatically knew that he was curious about what happened to make me act like this, so I put the guns away and we headed back to the main room. I sat down on the floor in front of his perch and leaned my head back against his legs to look up at him and explain.

"I was looking at videos of the bus stops and the police headquarters to try and find out if Light was there and met Naomi and Penber. I discovered that he did get on the hijacked bus and could've possibly used that opportunity to get Penber's name, but I didn't have any proof so I moved on to Naomi.

"She left with Light after being in the headquarters and they walked around for a bit talking about the case, from what I could tell with lip reading. She used a false name to be careful and it turns out that I was right. Penber had told her about the bus jacking and that he had to show someone his ID. He just didn't tell her who. So when Penber died, she discovered that Kira could possibly kill without using a heart attack…She knew more than we did L. More than _you_ did.

"Anyway, I was trying to figure out if Light remembered any of this now when I saw him taking out a paper to write stuff down. He began asking her questions about the bus jacking, but that's when he started acting differently. He kept glancing at his watch every few seconds like he was in a hurry or waiting for something. Then, when Naomi wanted to leave, he kept following her. Just when he was about to confront her again…The damn tape ended. The stupid security cameras recorded over the important information that could've possibly convicted him! I could've fuckin' ended this, L! I was so damn close!"

I felt tears drip down my face and mentally berated myself for showing such weakness in front of L. Closing my eyes, I grumbled.

"Dammit…"

It was then, that I felt a hand ruffle my hair softly before skinny arms wrapped around my shoulders and I felt his breath going across my ear.

"You did well, Kitsu. You found a clue I didn't and followed it until the end. You have given me more information to work with than I could've possibly hoped for and I'll be sure to put it to good use. There is just one thing I want to know."

I nodded stiffly as I felt the heat creep up my face from knowing how close L was and the fact that _he_ actually initiated the hug.

"When did you put Light's face on the targets? If I'd known that, I would have gone down with you more often."

I started laughing at L's little comment and felt him smile as he hid his face in my short hair, but a part of me was a little bit upset that he totally disregarded our little moment.

But hey, this is L. He's not exactly the most social person on the planet, but I'm glad to know that I fell in love with the goofiest detective in the world.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry about the bit of cursing, but hey it's rated T for a reason ^^ I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did and I just wanted to say that I totally changined this chapter part way through 'cause I discovered Light thinking about the camera's in the manga and I was like, "Oh crap. The camera's record over past information? O.O" So I kinda put a little twist on poor Kitsu's epiphany. ;) Anyway, please make sure you review! It forces me to remember to update faster.<strong>


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry about the wait. I had major writer's block on this and couldn't figure out where to go next. I also apologize if it's a bit short, I got stuck after this and thought the ending was a great cliffhanger ^^ so please review! and maybe I'll be able to come up with something soon.**

* * *

><p>A vibration in my pocket had me launching up from my place on the floor after I had rested my eyes for a moment.<p>

"I'm up! I'm u-"

Something hard smacked into my head and I fell back to the ground with a groan, as another groaned behind me. I had forgotten that L was on the ornate chair behind me and had collided with his chin when I woke up. My phone continued to vibrate and I apologized softly to L as I answered the phone.

"This the Fox, whacha need?"

A voice I didn't recognize answered back.

"_Hello. A friend of yours gave me your number when I asked for someone skilled to solve a minor problem for me."_

"You got my attention. Who gave you my number and what is it you're asking me to do? Oh, and _I_ will decide the price for my services."

I got a questioning glance from L, but held up a finger for him to wait. I nearly laughed at the pout he gave me in return.

"_I believe his name was Demetri. As for what I need, I wish for you to help me find the detective L."_

My heart stopped for what seemed like hours as I tried to process this information. On one hand, this could be very beneficial to the case if I'm able to discover who this man is. On the other hand though, I could get into some deep shit if I'm not careful. Taking a deep breath, I spoke.

"You do realize what you're asking me to do, don't you?"

"_Yes, but unless your reputation precedes you, I assure you it will be little to no trouble on your part. Now, for the price, will 500K be enough?"_

My mouth dropped at the shear amount of money he offered, but L kindly tucked a finger under my chin and closed it for me. When did he get that close to me? I have no idea.

"That'll be perfect and I guess I should let you know, I'll be seeing you sometime soon."

"_Wha-"_

I hung up before he could finish and stuck my tongue out before smirking at the blinking dot on my phone's map. Closing my phone, I replaced it in my pocket and spotted something red out of the corner of my eye. Just as L opened his mouth to ask me about the call, I ran over to the couch, launched myself over it, and stole the strawberry off the top of a cake that was sitting on the table.

"Sweet Jesus that was good."

I pulled out my fork and reached for the cake only for it to be snatched off the table.

"L! Give it baaaaacccckkkk!"

"Not until you inform me as to me what that call was about."

"Just to let you know, that was some guy hiring me for my services. Our old pal from the pawn shop gave him my number"

"Why did you accept? I have already told you that you are not allowed to leave this building without an escort, Kitsu. You are still a Kira suspect."

I clenched my fists and glared ferociously at him as I stood and went on a rampage.

"Figures you still think that. Fine! If I'm a Kira suspect then I guess I don't need to help you on the case! I guess every little thing I do is just another raise in your stupid percentage!"

"Kitsu, that isn't what I w-"

"Shut up! I'm a Kira suspect right? If that's all I am to you then that's what I'll be!"

I left the room, not even noticing the task force who was standing in the doorway, nor Light who had heard everything from his place on the couch I'd chained him to last night. I made my way up the hall, spotting the trio of boys standing in the doorway of my room looking concerned in their own way. I couldn't go there so I headed down to the gym/shooting range and began working out. I'd been down there for hours before I felt good enough to get ready to head out and meet the crazy fool who hired me, but first I needed a shower and a disguise.

* * *

><p><strong>(Normal POV)<strong>

"We must catch that person in such a way that we have concrete proof of that person having the power of Kira and proof of them killing people as well. And from now on, do not move on your own or deviate from the plan."

L was sitting in his normal crouch and was addressing the task force, minus Matsuda and Kitsu. After Kitsu's little incident earlier, Light had begun giving the doorway glances every now and then and it was starting to annoy L. He too was concerned about Kitsu and whatever it was he had done wrong to upset her, but he knew she would understand that he needed to put the case first. At least, that's what he hoped. He was also extremely curious as to who she was on the phone with. It was obvious, from what he could hear of their conversation, that there was more than Kitsu was letting on about the job she had accepted. As to _what _exactly, even he didn't know.

"Ryuzaki."

Although he thought it was odd that Watari would interrupt him, L kept a calm (if not slightly annoyed) face.

"What is it, Watari?"

"Matsuda has sent out a distress signal from his belt."

"From where?"

L was getting more irritated by the second.

"Well, it appears to be from inside the Yotsuba Tokyo Main Office."

Mr. Yagami immediately began yelling in shock while Light calmly stated that Matsuda had most likely already been caught. Even Aiber knew that this almost a completely lost cause. Suddenly, the young trio of successors came into the room.

"Ryuzaki, you might want to look at this."

Matt hurried over with a laptop and showed L the screen of a figure driving away on a sleek black motorcycle from the parking lot wearing a slight too big pair of jeans. L grumbled,

"It seems Matsuda's not the only idiot."


	17. Chapter 17

It wasn't hard for me to get everything I needed and head to the building that was actually someplace…expectant; the Yotsuba Headquarters.

_Hm, it's quite the place, isn't it?_

No one answered my mental question and I didn't expect anyone to, since it _was_ a mental question and since there wouldn't be anyone _to_ answer it ten stories up the side of the building. What? Don't look at me like that! I thought it would be a cool way to get in the building instead of disabling the security and walking in through the front door in a gorilla costume. That's right. I'm in a gorilla costume, scaling the side of a building. I feel like King Kong!

Ah-hm…anyway, I did have something simpler underneath it, but I just wanted to have some fun first. I heard a shout from below and spotted a kid pointing up at me while trying to get his mother's attention. Before I could be spotted, I slipped in a window and took off the gorilla head. Glancing around, I noticed I was in an empty meeting room a few feet away from where my client was. I took off the rest of the costume and packed it away in the backpack with the climbing gear I used, while simultaneously pulling out a kitsune mask. I smiled at the memories I had using this mask, and slipped it onto my face before slinking down the hall.

Finding the door I wanted, I listened silently to figure out if the man was alone or not. I heard other voices and they were getting closer, so I backed off the door and waited in a room by the stairs. The voices passed and I came back out, spotting my target walking slowly in the back. How'd I know it was him? Simple, I could pick out all the other voices and none of them matched the one on the phone earlier.

The poor guy seemed…bored; like he was only in this group for kicks. Sneaking up behind him, I covered his mouth and pulled him around the corner.

"I told you I would meet you again, didn't I?"

I released him and one glance at my mask told him who I was.

"The Fox, I assume. You really shouldn't sneak up on a man like that. You could've died."

I noticed his hand slipping something under the folds of his coat, but when he came up empty handed, I held up the article in question, a 9 mm.

"I think I am perfectly capable of protecting myself. Now, about your request…I'll do it, but I have just one question: Why are _you_ doing this? Compared to the rest of the group you seem more…" I twirled my hand in a circle as I leaned against the wall. "_uninterested _in their line of work."

"I suppose, but it's not your job to ask about clients is it?"

I understood the dismissing tone in his voice and saluted him before handing him back his gun.

"Later then! If someone mentions a gorilla…they're crazy!"

Then I ran off towards a bathroom, switching back to my monkey suit and repelling down the building. Leaving the alleyway, I walked out, scaring quite a few pedestrians in the process. It was then I heard a voice that I would rather never hear again in my life.

"Hurry up! Misa-Misa doesn't want to keep the girls waiting!~"

Sure enough, Misa and Matsuda were leading the group of business men to a waiting limo. Matsuda was glancing around nervously and I had a feeling that he had gotten himself into something stupid, but obviously he had it under control.

* * *

><p>Walking into headquarters in a gorilla suit, best idea <em>ever<em>. The look on everyone's faces had me busting up laughing. Everyone, except for L, who decided that looking at me wasn't worth it. Even Light seemed _brighter _at my appearance. It was then I spotted the screen showing Misa, Matsuda, the Yotsuba group, and a bunch of girls drinking in Misa's room.

"What? Misa gets to throw a party to a bunch of Kira supporters, but I can't leave the building for a job?"

I glared at L, but he ignored me as he went and picked up his cell to speak with Matsuda.

"You don't want to talk to me? Fine. Whatever. I'll be in my room, thinking up ways to kill everyone around me like the Kira suspect that I am."

I slammed the door behind me and went to my room, discovering a note instead of the three kids.

_Kitsu,_

_Sorry about leaving so suddenly-No we're not! Matt's just saying that to make you feel better!-That's Mello. Despite what he's saying, he's gonna miss you too. Actually, we would've stayed longer, but_

_Kitsu, _

_Mello and Matt are fighting, so I'm going to finish this letter. It was nice meeting you and I'm sure we will meet again in good time. We apologize for not staying for you to see us off, but we have another case back in England awaiting us. I do hope you and Ryuzaki get over your spat, for together you have the capability to finish this case. Matt, Mello, and I wish you good luck._

_-Near_

_-Matt_

_-Mello_

It felt nice to know that they were going to miss me regardless of the short amount of time we knew each other. That, and I guess Near had a point about L and I. I should be used to his shortcomings and doing this pointless argument would do nothing more than hinder the investigation. I sighed and headed back out to the main room to apologize, only no one was there.

"You can't be serious! I come out here to apologize and he's not even here?"

I pace around the room, tugging at my hair when I spotted the camera screens. It showed Matsuda falling over the railing of the balcony.

"No way…Matsuda!"

I quickly began pushing buttons to change the screen to other cameras and relaxed when I realized that the body on the ground was Aiber in disguise. I slumped back in the rolling chair, only to double forward laughing when I spotting L in a paramedic's outfit. By the time I finished laughing, they had returned to find me hanging upside down rolling across the room in my chair with my hands across my stomach as I tried to get the picture of L out of my head. Of course, him and Light both walked in still wearing it which set me off yet again.

"Oh God!…Ahaha! L! You look so good with that Light!…Ahaha! C-Can I wear your hat!"

L seemed surprised that I was laughing and being my normal self around him, but hey; I already decided to forgive him. He got closer and handed me his hat, to which I sat up and promptly placed it on my head with a serious expression. I ruined it though, when I rolled around the room making ambulance sounds, causing L to give a slight smile while the other's sweat dropped.

"Um, Kitsu? Are you okay?"

I stopped having fun and glanced at Light. Then I smirked.

"I just climbed up the Yotsuba headquarters wearing a gorilla suit, spoke with my client, repelled back down the building in the gorilla suit, scared the living daylights out of pedestrians, and came back to discover my three favorite trouble makers left…Personally, I'm surprised! This is the least bored I've ever been!"

I twirled around in my chair to prove my point, not realizing the mistake I made until L stopped me and asked,

"Why were you at the Yotsuba headquarters?"

"Ka-whoops. I wasn't supposed to tell you that until you apologized to me."

I looked away childishly, pouting as L sent everyone else home and locked Light in a room. I continued to avoid his gaze even as he stood directly in front of me.

"Kitsu… I'm sorry."

I glanced up, astonished at the fact that he didn't use formal speech like he always does; saying, 'I apologize'. I was even more shocked when his cold hands brushed my jaw line as he removed the paramedic helmet from my head.

"I'm sorry for what I said that hurt you and-"

"Wait. Do you know _what_ you said that hurt me? Do you know _why_ it hurt me? L, apologizing in general doesn't have nearly as much of an effect as knowing what it is you actually did wrong. How are you supposed to learn not to do it again, if you don't know what it is you did wrong?"

He brought his thumb to his mouth, obviously contemplating what I said, when he finally responded.

"Then, could you explain to me what it is I said that caused you to be so upset with me?"

_Ah, back to the formal speech._

"L, has anyone ever asked you what it would be like if you were a Kira suspect?"

"I believe Light asked me once."

"Okay, then you understand that it kind of sucks. It's even worse for me, seeing how the only person I can trust is saying it straight to my face. It's like Watari saying it to you, L. It really hurts, I guess and it makes me mad knowing that I may never have your full trust because you'll always look at me like I'm a Kira suspect. It doesn't help that I lo-"

I cut myself off, realizing what I almost said as a blush crept across my face. I realized L appeared to be deep in thought and hurriedly continued the conversation.

"So, yeah. Do you get it now?"

"I understand. I will not refer to you as a Kira suspect any longer, Kitsu. Your chances are at maybe 1% with the new information you have given me about Naomi and…I…I would feel better if you were to remain happy while helping me with this case."

My mouth dropped in shock after L said that, and I saw the small tugging of his lips upward as he slowly placed his finger under my chin to close it; like he did not a day earlier. I blushed yet again at the touch of his cold fingers and the closeness of his face. Deciding then and there to do something daring. I leaned forward and kissed him quickly across his lips.

_Oh shit…did I just do that?_

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, I know. Horrible cliffhanger! But I just <em>had<em> to do it ^^ tell me what you think and I'm sorry for taking out Matt, Mello, and Near! I just couldn't think of anything more they could do T.T**


	18. Chapter 18

_What the hell did I just do?_

I groaned, banging my head in a steady rhythm against the coffee table situated in the middle of my room. I was numb to the pain in my forehead as I continued to think about what I had done and how I was going to fix things. L probably didn't have any feelings for me, judging by the frozen state he was in when I dashed out of the room a few hours ago. Glancing across the table, I spotted the paramedic helmet I had unconsciously taken with me and pulled it closer to me, glaring at it.

"This is all your fault. If you hadn't made him look so damn cute, I wouldn't have done that."

"Is that so? But I doubt that all this is the helmet's fault, Kitsu."

"Don't give me sass, you stupid helmet! I know it's your fault!"

I poked the helmet harshly, but stopped when I heard a short chuckle. Turning, I saw L standing in the doorway with a ghost of a smile on his face. Before I could even ask how he got in here, he placed a set of keys in his pocket and sat down across from me in his usual crouch. I couldn't help but put the helmet on to try and hide from whatever it was L was going to say. I also decided to think about something else to distract myself.

_Hm, when did I start calling him, L? I mean isn't his alias Ryuzaki? Why'd I stop calling him that?…Hmmm…I like L better. Short, sweet, and to the point. Besides, it feels more like him. Ryuzaki doesn't suit him._

I nodded slightly to myself, when something tipped my hat up and away from my eyes. L had moved to my side and had moved the hat, gazing quizzically at me. I grabbed the hat to pull it back down, but L tugged my hands away.

"Kitsu…What were you thinking about, and why do you keep trying to hide from me?"

"Um, I was thinking about why I call you L instead of Ryuzaki and I guess L just suits you better…You want some cake? I'm sure I have some in my fridge."

I got up, only to be pulled back down to the couch I was sitting on.

"I like you calling me L, Kitsu."

I was surprised at that, and stared at him with wide eyes. _What about what happened? Does he not care? Oh my gosh…_

"I stunned you so badly your brain short circuited and you lost your sanity! Oh no! Watari! Watari! Kira's done it! L's lost his mi-"

L shoved his hand across my mouth, effectively cutting me off. So, I licked him. He quickly pulled his hand away and wiped it on my shirt, causing me to laugh, completely forgetting what happened earlier until L spoke up.

"Kitsu. You should know that I cannot return your feelings."

"Oh…well, that's okay. I kinda guessed that you wouldn't feel the same and I understand…ew, I just used a really corny line."

I scrunched up my face, sticking out my tongue to try and get rid of the feeling in the pit of my stomach. Standing, I made my way over to the fridge and pulled out a strawberry crème cake, strawberry milk, and some licorice. I handed the cake to L and sat down to chew on the end of a licorice, rubbing the lobe of my ear silently. It wasn't until I reached over to drink my milk that I noticed L holding it, staring questionably.

"Um, L? It's just strawberry milk. It's not going to bite you or anything."

He set it down, but continued to stare at it so I pushed it towards him and got up to get another. Bending over, I opened the fridge and pulled out another bottle.

"I never said I didn't feel the same, Kitsu…Hm, this is surprisingly good."

_And _I dropped it, hastily picking it back up again and facing L as my mind imploded and he calmly drank the strawberry drink.

"Huh?"

"I said that this drink is good."

"No, no, no. Before that."

I noticed L smirking slightly as he put his thumb to his mouth.

"I have come to terms with my feelings and believe that they are very similar to yours, if not the same, but I would like to keep this separate from the case we are working on and wait to move forward with our…_relationship _until after I have captured Kira."

I grinned widely and sat down in front of L on the floor. I felt his hand brushing through my hair and promptly stole a piece of his cake with my hidden fork.

"That's not very nice, Kitsu."

"Since when am I nice?"

I smirked up at him when a sudden pounding interrupted from the door. It could only be Light.

"Ryuzaki? As much as I love waiting here for you to make up with Kitsu, I need to use the restroom and I can't do that when I'm chained to whatever it is on the other side of this door."

"You know, L, we could record this and sell it for future publicity. We can call it, 'Kira's Daily Life'!"

"I heard that Kitsu! I'm not Kira!"

"Would you rather I call it 'A Gay's Daily Life'?"

There was no response from behind the door and I threw my head back in laughter. It's not everyday, a genius gets stumped. L smiled and ruffled my hair briefly before heading towards the door and chaining himself back to Light.

"I'm glad we had this talk, Kitsu. This will stay between us, I hope."

"Sure thing!…but only if you buy me some more licorice~"

He brought his thumb back up to his mouth and stared at the ceiling before rolling his eyes in my direction.

"I suppose that can be arranged, but in return I want to hear you play for me."

"What? Violin?"

He nodded and I fiddled with my ear lobe with a light blush before also nodding.

"Goodnight Kitsu."

"Night, L."

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><p><em>The road I walk is paved in gold,<em>

_To glorify my platinum soul._

_I am the closest thing to God,_

_So worship me and never stop._

_The wretched blood runs though my veins_

_I gave up everything for fame_

_I am the lie that you adore_

_Now feed the rich, and f*** the poor._

The music blasted through my headphones and quickly woke me up from where my head was pressing down on the volume button. I fell over the arm of the couch and landed harshly on my elbow, ripping the headphones off in the process. The familiar tingle of my now bruising funny bone traveled up my arm and I couldn't help but lay on the floor for a while longer.

_Hm, I just realized how much this song suits Light…Well, Kira, but they're practically the same right?_

A beeping came from my computer, and I turned to find the fancy letter 'L' on my screen.

"Kitsu, I would appreciate it if you were to come down and join us."

"Sure thing."

I stood up, brushing myself off before heading towards the messy pile of clothes in front of my closet.

"And Kitsu?"

"Yeah?"

"Please bring me some of the drink from before."

"Hehe, sure thing, L."

Chuckling to myself, I quickly changed into an overly large hoodie and some sweats. There was no need to dress up for the task force anyway. They're just a bunch of old guys and L doesn't give a crap so why should I? Pulling two strawberry milk bottles from the fridge and a couple handfuls of licorice, I staggered from my room still half asleep after a night of confessions and finding fake info to give my client.

It took awhile, but I finally reached the stairs leading into the main room and promptly fell down the last couple of steps in my stupor. To tired and lazy to move at the moment, I waited for someone to come over and help me up. It took a moment, but after some shuffling occurred, someone came over and poked me in the head.

"Kitsu you cannot contribute if you are lying here on the ground."

I rotated my head around the glare at L, who was smiling slightly. _The pest is teasing me. Two can play at that game._ I poked him back with one of the bottles in my hand with a big smirk.

"No 'are you okay' or anything, L? And here I thought you would like to know what I was doing in this job of mine. Seeing how my client's part of the Yotsuba group and all."

His eyes widened and I was soon helped off the floor painfully, since he decided to grab my recently hurt elbow.

"L! Let go! That hurts!"

He glanced down at my elbow, which was now sporting a bright colored bruise, and raised an eyebrow at me.

"What did you do?"

With a deadpan expression, I answered "Fell of the couch."

L shook his head in amusement and I was soon placed in a chair, surrounded by the task force all asking questions as he left to go get an ice pack, dragging Light with him.

"You're working for the Yotsuba group?"

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"What could you possibly be doing for them?"

Sighing and rubbing my earlobe, I spoke up just to get them to stop yelling.

"Shut up already! You'll find out when L gets back! I swear you guys _may_ be a highly educated police force, but sometimes I think you're just a group of impatient kids."

Mr. Yagami turned red with rage while Matsuda looked shocked, looking back and forth between me and him; the other guy just stayed quiet in the back watching. It wasn't long before L and Light returned to find this amusing scene and questioned me as he gently pressed the ice pack to my elbow.

"What did you possibly do to cause this, Kitsu?"

"Nothing much. Just bruised their ego by calling them impatient children."

I shrugged my shoulders as L sighed and Light rubbed his temples.

"Kitsu, why don't you inform us of this job you are doing."

"One of the Yotsuba guys hired me to look up information on L. I believe his name was Reiji Namikawa…30 years old, head of sales division, graduated from Harvard, fourth-dan in shogi, lived in the US for six years, father's the head of Yotsuba there. He also seems to be the least likely Kira suspect out of all of them."

"What makes you say that?"

"Hm…he seemed separated from the group almost. Like he didn't want to be there and was only calling me because he was told to. He also has quite the influence over the others, so it's surprising how little he cares about what they are doing."

L brought his thumb up to his mouth in thought, reaching towards the drink I brought him. I too drank some from my own bottle and nibbled on a licorice end just as Watari's fancy 'W' showed up on L's screen.

"Ryuzaki, Aiber is on the line for you."

"Connect him."

"Ryuzaki, I don't think they trust me totally just yet, but I managed to contact one of the eight as Coil."

Smirking, I leaned towards the screen.

"Too late for that, Aiber. I contacted _my _client a while ago and I've already personally met with him."

"Woah! Seems you really learned from me, eh Foxy?"

"That's right! Although, I'm sure they're paying you more. I'm only getting 500K."

"Ahaha, and that's where we differ! I've already received five mil…hey, Ryuzaki, you think I can go ahead and hand them over a fake L of another ten million?"

"That's fine. I'll think of something myself as well."

The screen went blank as Matsuda laughed nervously about Aiber being a good con artist and Mr. Yagami made some constipated looking face. Light didn't seem to mind though.

"Getting close to Yotsuba by pretending to be Coil…Aiber's doing pretty well."

"I didn't like him using my other identity as his own, but it was a good idea so I refrained from complaining. As for Kitsu, however…" He glanced in my direction with narrowed eyes and I smiled awkwardly reaching up towards my ear again. "She acted irresponsibly and put herself in a dangerous situation…but managed to give us some useful information and a potential contact within the Yotsuba group. She has done a good job and I plan to use her talents to the fullest later on, although I _would_ appreciate it if she informed me of her actions first."

I chuckled nervously and soon Wedy called in to inform us of the crappy security. I noticed the task force and L giving me a look and I shrugged.

"How else do you think I was able to climb the side of the building without being spotted _in a gorilla suit?_"

They all sweat dropped or rolled their eyes except L, who smiled and ruffled my hair briefly before returning to the screen to give out orders. I too grinned and leaned back, closing my eyes.

_It won't be long now, Kira. We're coming for you._

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><p><strong>I don't own "Don't Stop" by Innerpartsystem. Anyway, I'm sorry for the horrid cliffhanger in the last chapter and I hope you guys and girls like how their relationship turned out in this one ^^ so please review!<strong>


	19. Chapter 19

**Yay! I had some major writer's block and was completely screwed and then I had this crazy idea about how to save L and my hands were flying across the keyboard XD I hope you love this chapter as much as I do and please review!**

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><p>I was bored watching this stupid meeting that the Yotsuba group was having. Sure, everyone else was really into it, but I could care less about who they were planning to kill and how. They hadn't even gotten to that part yet! They were too busy talking about their colleague's death and how important it was. Personally, I agreed with my client Namikawa. He seemed to understand just how important it was for the alpha dog to stay on top and I nodded with a smirk at his reasoning, getting a few odd glances from the task force.<p>

"Next, the report from Erald Coil."

I totally tuned out, stacking L's sugar cubes as high as I could until I was mentioned.

"And our other informant seems to have come up with similar information as well as a bit more. Says here, 'While you have kept the deaths hidden, it is almost obvious that Yotsuba is the company gaining the most from these deaths. If you are not careful with the spread of deaths, it will be easy for someone like L to follow the trail you have left behind. Do not underestimate him. He is confident in his abilities and hates to lose, judging from his challenge to Kira, and will no doubt be able to connect these deaths to Kira as I and Coil already have.'"

"How did they know about Coil? Is it possible that they are working together?"

"I doubt it. At the bottom it states, 'P.S. your security sucks' I could not believe that the world's second greatest detective would work with such a childish person."

I scowled and launched a sugar cube at the man's head.

"I am not childish, baldy! If anyone's childish it's you for wearing those stupid pimp glasses!"

I heard a chuckled from behind me and glared at Matsuda as the Yotsuba group agreed with the bald man, except for Namikawa who understood first hand how _un_-childish I could be.

"Yay, a whooping one out of seven."

I pouted, watching as L slipped his hand over to mine and gave a reassuring squeeze. While to most people it would be a 'you're not childish' squeeze, I mentally chuckled knowing it was more of a 'it's okay I'm childish too' squeeze. _Silly L._

"Ryuzaki!"

I jumped a bit at the shout, knowing I somehow missed out on something and glanced boredly at the two yelling Yagami's.

"What is it, both of you?"

"We cannot do what you are planning to do, Ryuzaki, because your method is wrong!"

"Yes!"

"Here we go…"

I mumbled out, noticing L having the same expression as me. I have no idea what they were talking about before, but even I knew when Light was going of on a justice rampage. Rolling my eyes, I spotted L's sundae and pulled out a spoon to stab it but L pulled it out of my reach as he argued with the two justice fanatics.

"Look, it is clear to us that those seven are committing murders. We can prove it with this video tape and Matsuda's testimony. Letting them commit another murder in order to establish evidence, that is out of the question."

"I haven't said anything letting them commit murder…yet."

"Haha, seriously guys, relax a little. Unless those guys die, we won't find anything about Kira and how he kills. Not to mention that if we bust in now and arrest them, then everything we've done so far will be ruined. The Kira in there will just transfer his powers again. Think a little, would ya? Lose the battle but win the war, you know?"

I yawned and felt something be put in my mouth. Chewing, I discovered it to be a cherry, nearly choked on the stem, and spit it out tied in a knot. Smiling brightly, I tossed it in L's empty bowl and returned to the conversation.

"Ryuzaki, if Kira is among those seven, then the possibility of me calling one of them and Kira answering my call is 1/7 don't you think?"

"Why don't you just call Namikawa? You can use my cell. It's untraceable, tap-proof, and has a shiny I-Hate-Kira sticker that I made!"

I smiled and pulled out the phone to show Light, the scowl on his face making it better when he noticed his face with an 'X' going through it. Taking my phone, he dialed the number and began his plan while my mind decided to come out of it's foggy state and begin working.

_We're getting close to this Kira, but what'll happen if something goes wrong? I need to have some sort of backup plan in case Light get's his powers back and he's smart enough to realize if I do anything too rash. Think brain, think. What's the one thing Kira cannot get past? What's the only thing that'll stop him from killing L?…_

Suddenly, I had it. _Death. L needs to die in order to not be killed by Kira, but how can L die without dying?_ I scrunched up my face in thought and just noticed that Light had swung L around in his chair. I could feel the tension between the two and groaned, knowing that I may be getting yet another bruise if I didn't break them up soon.

"Would you think that after I caught the current Kira, after that…I would become Kira? A murderer? Do you see me as such a human being?"

"I think so and I can see you as such."

Jumping up, I tilted L's chair backwards and onto the floor, then pinned Light's arm behind his back. Glaring at them both, I released Light with a shove and grabbed L's shirt, lifting him off the floor.

"You two need to stop this. I thought you would've learned after what happened last time, but I guess I guessed wrong."

L returned to his chair like a dejected puppy and Light just turned his back to him. Glancing at Light, he reluctantly apologized and I nodded in return before looking over my shoulder at L. He ignored me, so I went over and stole his sugar cubes before he could get any. His dark eyes met mine and he sighed.

"I apologize, Kitsu."

"For?"

"For acting like a child."

"Good."

I returned his sugar cubes and sat back down, listening as the Yagami's started arguing yet again. I rubbed my ear, getting tired of hearing the same crap over and over again. I swear I just explained to them why we weren't going to take down the Yotsuba group just yet, but they apparently only heard half of what I said. I could tell L was quite tired of it as well as he tried to explain it to them in a simpler manner. I saw him frown, as he dropped another sugar cube in his coffee, and stood up finally having enough.

"Look, Mr. Yagami. Capturing the seven idiots now will do nothing except cause more death. Losing two people will be nothing to the amount lost if we go in there now. Besides, I thought you guys were the ones who asked L for help on this case? He was willing to trust you guys enough to show you _his face _and yet, you don't seem to have that same trust in his decisions. If this is how you are going to respect the world's greatest detective, then you might as well just leave and investigate by yourselves."

I turned back to L, ignoring the shocked faces of everyone and addressed him calmly.

"I'll be upstairs in my room, if you need me…Also, I need to talk to you later without your little tag along."

I waved nonchalantly at Light and headed up the stairs. I had an idea that would save L and I'll be damned if I'll let a group of old men stand in my way.

* * *

><p>L stared at Kitsu's retreating form as she headed up the stairs in awe. She had practically read his thoughts and he was still in shock at how well she managed to utilize them enough to silence the two Yagami's. Picking up another sugar cube, he lifted his arm up and dropped it in his coffee cup with a small smile.<p>

"I agree with Kitsu. The two of us will pursue Kira on our own. I will, however, lend the headquarters to Mr. Yagami's group as well as ourselves. If Mr. Yagami wants to capture them using your methods, then you can do what you wish. Kitsu and myself will investigate in our own way. If not, we would just begin quarrelling. Let us work separately."

Mr. Yagami stepped forward, still trying to argue the point and L finally stood up from his chair and began walking away, hands in his pockets and Light in tow.

"R-Ryuzaki! Where are you going?"

"To Misa's room. I'm sorry, though I know you are on your father's side, the handcuffs cannot be removed so I'm going to have you tag along with me."

L had a plan to stop Kira. Kitsu had a plan to save L from Kira. Either way, they both knew…

**Justice will prevail.**


	20. Chapter 20

**I know it's not as long as some of you would've hoped, but I needed to end it before the whole 'catching Higuchi' part ;) It's also quite fluffy now that I look at it O.O anyway, hope you enjoy it, so please review!**

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><p>I slurped my udon loudly, not caring about the looks I was getting as Matsuda kept glancing at the door for Misa.<p>

"Misa-Misa is late…I wonder if she's still in the interview."

"I guess Yotsuba has a lot of questions for her. That's good."

I glanced at L, catching Light getting ready to start another speech.

"Ryuzaki, even if we get Misa closer to Yotsuba, making her look like the second Kira is too dangerous. We should use Iver or Namikawa to rule out that possibility completely."

"Hey, don't be dragging my client into this. *slurp* You do that and he dies, then I won't get paid. Besides, *slurp* she wanted to do this, remember?"

He glared at me, but his dad jumped in and began coming up with his own ideas. I blew him off and began thinking back to last night when I told L my plan.

* * *

><p>"<em>So?"<em>

_L was silent, thumb in his mouth as he thought about everything that I'd just told him._

"_I'm unsure. There is a 44% chance something could go wrong should the task force interfere."_

"_I know, but most of them will probably be frozen in shock. I'm more worried about Light getting cocky and trying to kill me…But if everything goes according to plan, everyone will think we're dead and Watari could go inform those three brats."_

"_I still think it's too dangerous for you."_

_I chuckled and he gave me a weird look, letting me know how confused he was._

"_That panda I got you…You totally looked like it right now."_

_He pouted, so I ruffled his hair with a smile._

"_I'll be fine. No one's managed to kill me yet. In fact…now that I think about it, the worse injury I got was a stab wound to the side and it missed everything so all I needed was a couple stitch-"_

_I was suddenly pulled forward as a hand creeped up my shirt, scouring my sides until it stopped; tracing a scar that traveled horizontally under one of my ribs. Pulling the end of my shirt up to view it, L looked depressed while I was still trying to fight the heat in my cheeks._

"_L? Personal space. Misa already thinks you're a pervert. Are you trying to confirm that?"_

"_No…Did it hurt?"_

_I rolled my eyes as his hands wrapped around my back in an awkward hug and he buried his face in my stomach._

"_Most wounds do, but it's fine. I got back at him anyway."_

_I smirked and L looked up with a smile on his face._

"_I'll inform Watari and make sure everything's prepared, Kitsu."_

"_Okay. Oh, and L?"_

_He'd already gotten up and headed to the door, pausing in his step to turn around and look at me._

"_Thanks for trusting me."_

"_It's hard not to."_

* * *

><p>I tuned back into what was going on and apparently, Misa had returned and was showing off her phone to Matsuda.<p>

"After I told those guys my cell number and email address, three of the seven already asked me out privately."

"How dare they…"

"I just have to take them up on those offers and keep digging. That's basically how we planned it."

She smiled and turned towards L just as he told her the plan was dropped. When she came over and reached for his head, my body went on the defensive and grabbed her hand.

"Don't touch."

I glared at her and released her hand as she shuffled back a few paces. Looking between us for a minute, she quickly returned back to the conversation.

"But why? We've already come this far."

"Ask your boyfriend. He's the one against it."

Light came up behind her and began telling her how dangerous it is and what he was planning, when I noticed something off. She willingly agreed to what Light suggested. _Most of the time she'd argue the point, but this time she didn't. Why?_ Glancing at L, I caught him looking at me as well and we both simultaneously knew something was up with Misa Amane.

"Light, wanna sleep together?"

_What is she blabbering about now?_

"What are you saying Misa?"

"I know…That's after you catch Kira. You don't have to be shy, Light."

"You don't have to be shy Light."

I snickered and Light threw me a look before answering.

"I'm not shy."

"Why are you taking this seriously, Light?"

"Yeah Light, why so serious? You got something to hide?"

He growled and pulled at his hair. "How am I going to deal with you two?"

* * *

><p><strong>(Normal POV)<strong>

L turned to his computer with a serious face, contemplating what his next move will be now that Misa has brought in vocal evidence of Higuchi being Kira on her cell phone. _The first thing I must do would be to focus my efforts on solely Higuchi and not the rest of the Yotsuba group. Kitsu should be over there now with Wedy._

"Watari, give me Kitsu."

"Okay."

Elsewhere, Kitsu was currently in a predicament as her cell phone went off.

"Um, as much as I _love_ talking to you, now's…ugh…not quite the best time."

"Something wrong, Kitsu?"

Looking around, with the phone held by her ear, Kitsu frowned and rolled her eyes underneath her fox mask. Currently, she was being hung upside-down from a ceiling panel due to Wedy giving her a not-so-polite shove before Kitsu had untangled herself from the climbing gear.

"Just _hanging around_, I suppose. What do ya need?"

"What you would call a 'status report'."

"Yes sir! We can probably use cameras to track maybe…70% of what the group does inside the company, but it's impossible to do that outside with just Watari, Wedy, and I. I can call in some favors if you need me to though."

She spun in a circle slowly as the rope untwisted itself, waiting patiently for L's reply as she tried to free her other hand that was tied up in the rope.

"What if you concentrate on Higuchi?"

"Him?…Hm, we've only been to five of the houses, but Wedy said Midou, Namikawa, and Higuchi have crazy security. Seems he's building an underground room- Wedy! Since when have you been in here? Get me down!"

L blinked at Kitsu's yell as the others in the room gave the computer odd looks. _Seems Kitsu has gotten herself in some sort of situation._

"Is everything alright, Kitsu?"

There was shouting and a few scuffling sounds before a different voice flew in from the speakers.

"Sorry, it's not her anymore. You wanted to know about Higuchi, right?"

"Yes…and what kind of situation did Kitsu get herself into, Wedy?"

"I'll send you a picture in a minute…Anyway, Higuchi just built an underground room that's shielded from electromagnetic waves and it took Kitsu and I two days to get into it. I can't transmit anything, but when he's out I could get in there to plant some sort of recording equipment and go back to retrieve it later. There would be time restraints though."

L only thought for a moment before giving her the orders to place bugs in Higuchi's cars and not his house. Vaguely, he heard Kitsu's voice in the background as Wedy began complaining about his orders.

"What? I've come this far…Do you realize how hard it is to get inside their houses? And besides, do you have any idea how many cars Higuchi has?"

"What're you complaining about? You'll just make me do all the hard work anyway!"

L couldn't help but smirk as he continued the conversation.

"He has six."

"Okay, so I have to prep all of Higuchi's cars, right?"

"Please do that…and the picture?"

"On it's way."

"Hey! What're you doing with that? No! Don't-"

The sound was cut off and left the rest of Kitsu's sentence unfinished, but what showed up on the screen had even L giving a slight chuckle. Hearing this, the rest of the task force as well as Light and Misa came over to view the screen which had a large blown up photo of Kitsu hanging upside-down a couple of feet of the ground with a single arm free, reaching towards the camera frantically. The fox mask was lying forgotten on the ground and the word 'idiot' was written across her forehead in black ink.

"It's nice to see Kitsu getting a taste of her own medicine."

A few of the task force nodded, but L was too distracted making that photo his new wallpaper. _Just to see what her reaction is. There's a 90% chance it will be something I would enjoy._

* * *

><p><strong>(Kitsu's POV)<strong>

"Stupid Wedy…Leaving me tied up like that…"

I continued to grumble about my misfortunes before yawning and walking in the headquarters around 2 in the morning to find only L awake in his usual position in front of the computer. Coming up behind him, I noticed him quickly pop up a window, but I'd already seen what was behind it.

"Are you serious? Wedy took a picture of that?"

"You should keep quiet, Kitsu. You wouldn't want to wake up Light."

I turned and spotted Light asleep in his computer chair and lowered my voice to a whisper.

"_Why_ would you put it as your wallpaper?"

He rotated his chair to face me with a quizzical expression that barely hid his amusement.

"I wanted to see how you would react. The possibilities pointed to something amusing." I was about to get mad at him, but he continued and stumped me. "_And_ it was…cute."

All my anger had vanished and I relaxed slightly in my own rolling chair, bringing it close to L and resting my head on his shoulder with a sigh.

"Thanks…I guess. I don't see how hanging upside-down with the word 'idiot' on my head is cute, but you've always had weird tastes. I'm gonna head to bed. Wedy already filled me in on what we're doing and I'm going to need a butt load of rest if you're going to have me following this psychopath."

"Kitsu."

"Yea-"

I was cut off by his lips connecting with mine for only a moment. He immediately turned around after, so I wasn't able to see his face, but he sounded genially frightened when he spoke. Something I've never expected out of him; the kiss included.

"I may not be able to speak with you privately before you leave tomorrow so…please, be careful."

_He…He's worried?_ With a small smile, I left him and tossed one last statement over my shoulder.

"You know how I am. No promises~"


	21. Author's Note

I feel horrible about leaving this not updated for so long, but I need your guys' help. In order for Kitsu's plan to work I have to decide on something very important.

Whether or not Watari should live.

It's a big deal to me. I mean, he's a great character and I don't want him to die but I need Rem to die and it's either she kills him or…something crazy happens (I would tell you, but that would be a major spoiler and there's no fun in telling you Kitsu's plan). Like I said, I like his character and all but I feel like his death would play a huge role in moving Kitsu and L's relationship further…and on the other hand, his living could also possibly give Kitsu a bit of insight on L and Kitsu's feelings about each other (he always seemed like a meddling old man and I would love to see how he tries to get them closer).

So please tell me what you want to happen to Watari and I'll see what I can do to fulfill that…or I might just do it my way ;) *eeny meeny miny moe…catch a tiger-* just kidding. But seriously. Help!


	22. Chapter 21

**Aha! The long awaited new chapter! ^^ I hope you guys like this chapter enough to review and I'll try to update again soon since I left it off on a bit of a cliffhanger. Sorry...ANyway, please review and tell me what you think!**

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><p>I gave out a yawn as I sat, relaxed, on the back of my red and black Hayabusa motorcycle.<p>

"Hey! I told you to be alert!"

"I _am_."

I rolled my eyes under the black helmet with a green Mohawk on the top. Sure, not the most secretive of disguises, but it would blend in better with what's expected of a motorcycle rider than wearing all black, if you ask me.

The roar of a red porche carrera brought my attention to Higuchi speeding out of his parking space. Wedy and I both had mics in our helmets, but I left it up to her to fill L in as the two of us pulled our bikes out and kept a safe distance away from the speeding porche.

"Confirmed target Higuchi. He only has a bag on him. Engaging in pursuit. Kitsu and I will keep our distance from him while we're in pursuit, to keep him from taking notice of us."

I bit my tongue to keep from commenting on Wedy's overly excessive status update in order to keep L free from distraction. _God, the things I do for him. I never thought I'd have someone making me keep my own mouth shut._ I shook my head slightly, nearly hitting the backend of a car that was changing lanes.

"Kitsu! Pay attention!"

Wedy's loud order was heard through my earpiece plus all of the noise of outside traffic, so I gave her a quick thumbs up to show I was listening before spotting Higuchi slowing down and approaching the Yoshida Agency Office.

"The weasel's reached point A. I repeat, the weasel's at the first check point."

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><p>"Thank you, Kitsu." L released the button connecting him to Kitsu and Wedy before speaking to Light. "All screen panels show the cameras at the Yoshida Agency Office."<p>

The screens in front of them changed to show Higuchi walking into the office and flipping through some files in the drawer of someone's desk. It took him a moment, but he soon pulled out a single file with the name Taichiro Yamashita written on it. L leaned forward in his chair and steadily watched the screen. _Now, show me how you kill._

Higuchi reached into his bag and pulled out a plain black notebook as Mogi confirmed his position. Writing the name in the notebook Higuchi replaced the file and turned to leave the office, leaving L and Light a bit stumped.

"He only made a note of the name and now he's leaving the room…Is he going to kill somewhere else?"

_Why would he go elsewhere though? _L thought._ He seemed pretty calm as he left. Does writing the name in the notebook have any significance? Or was he truly just writing a note?_ Still having different ideas running through his head, Mogi called in again.

"Ryuzaki! Shall we go after him?"

"Not yet. We still haven't seen how he kills. He might do something once he's inside his car. If we can observe something happening on the inside of his car, then we will go for him. Until then, please monitor his movements, Wedy, Kitsu."

* * *

><p>"Sure thing."<p>

I glanced over at Higuchi as he got in his car and just sat there for a while. I wondered what he was doing exactly, but even listening in to L and Light's conversation told me little to nothing. Suddenly, Higuchi speed off and I quickly switched my bike into gear and followed after Wedy. Being a (somewhat ex) criminal, I naturally kept my eyes out and spotted the blue and white colors of a uniformed police officer from quite a distance away and warned Wedy, but not soon enough.

"Wedy. He's gonna get pulled over by a traffic cop in like, two seconds. I just spotted him now, but we're going to have to pass him by and leave this to Aiber."

"It's our only option. You hear that, Aiber?"

"I got it. You two head on over to the Yotsuba Head Office."

The two of us headed off and, not a minute later, we received some disturbing news. Apparently, the traffic cop that had pulled over Higuchi is now dead by a supposed accident. _I doubt this is an accident. If anything, Higuchi now has the second Kira's powers but I can't do anything on my own without L's orders. I don't want to screw up his plan._ Just then, L's voice rang through my earpiece.

"Everyone, I've decided that it is now dangerous to let Higuchi move any longer and although we haven't established his method of killing, assuming that he now possesses sufficient evidence on him, we are taking our next step and will capture Higuchi. However, we also now assuming that Higuchi has the same abilities as the second Kira and can kill just by looking at faces. That is our premise."

"Wonderful."

I muttered under my breath. Wedy and I had just arrived at the head office and were currently taking care of anything possibly related to Matsuda as per plan. I was in a rush, because I knew the two of us still needed to head over to Sakura TV to help ambush the maniac and the stupid video recording was giving me a hassle. Finally, I was able to delete Matsuda from the video and Wedy and I hurried out and jumped back on our bikes.

"Wedy, Kitsu, I believe the two of you have taken care of everything at the head office that could possibly be related to Matsuda?"

"Yup. It's a good thing he headed here first. Gives us plenty of time to get to Sakura TV ahead of him."

A wild, feral looking grin spread across my face and I couldn't help but laugh out loud. I would have continued, but L and Light cut me off.

"Kitsu! This is serious!"

"Light does have a point. What do you find so amusing in this situation, Kitsu?"

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing! I just…_God_ I missed this so much!"

I heard a snicker from Wedy, yells and sighs from the two Yagami's and L, and even a good comment from Aiber.

"Aha! Same ol' foxy! Always a fan of the adrenaline."

"You bet! I haven't felt this excited since I was trying to get back at the Yamaguchi!"

"Can we focus please? People could be killed!"

"Geeze, Light. Aren't you supposed to look at the _bright _side of situations like these?"

I heard a groan and snickered as Wedy and I headed into the building, easily finding Yagami senior and crouching down with him. It was nice to actually breathe something other than helmet for a moment, but I had to give Wedy a glance when she pulled out a pistol. Pouting, I whined.

"Aw!~ Why didn't I get a gun?"

Wedy sighed. "Because we all know how you can get around guns."

"I only shot my own guy one time! One time! Besides…I had a good reason."

"Oh yeah, and what was that?"

"He was in the way."

I said it in a small voice and I could practically hear everyone sweat drop on the other end. There was an awkward cough and the conversation was quickly dropped and I still didn't get a gun, despite the fact that Wedy offered one to Mr. Yagami. Putting on our helmets, I heard Mogi and Aiber saying that they were moving into position just as the door opened and Higuchi walked in the room we were in. Wedy, Yagami, and I all slowly moved out and stepped up to Higuchi as he discovered our little trick with the mannequins.

"Hold it right there, Higuchi!"

Aiber and Mogi came in and he was surrounded. With Wedy wielding the gun, I tried to stick a bit closer to her. _The plus about being a criminal. I can guess what he's thinking and what he may do next. Everyone but Wedy is unarmed, so she'd be _my_ first target. Let's see how this guy does._

"Time to give up."

"What? You guys got the wrong idea. I'm just here because I have a meeting arranged with Demegawa." _Trying to stall in order to find a way out. He can't do anything with our helmets on so he should go for the next best thing._ "I'm from the Yotsuba group's develop-lab. I'll show you my card."

He reached in his bag and my mind was on high alert in an instant. My mouth speaking before anyone could figure it out.

"He's got a gun!"

The trigger was pulled twice, aimed at Wedy like I'd originally thought. My body was there before I knew what happened and pain split through my shoulder, as Mr. Yagami went down next to me.

"Chief!"

"Kitsu!"

Wedy tossed Aiber the gun and kneeled down to the two of us as I gripped my shoulder and sat up on the floor. Mr. Yagami seemed to have just got nicked on the upper arm, but I could tell that I took quite a bit more damage. _Ugh. Let's see…Stupid thing went straight through my left shoulder and somehow missed the bullet proof jacket I was wearing. Jerk's got a lucky shot and this is gonna need some big recovery time. Great._ Wedy came over to me and reached over to my wound just as Yagami was getting helped up by Mogi. Not wanting to be left behind, I got up as well, despite Wedy's protests.

"Kitsu! At least let me check it!"

"It's just a scratch. We don't have time to be worrying about me right now, when Higuchi is getting away."

I swear I heard her mumble something about stubborn, but we hopped back on our bikes and hurried after the others. My shoulder was aching and burning with every turn and dodge, but it all went away for a moment when I saw hundreds of police cars blocking Higuchi off at one end of the road. _Good job Aizawa._

I smirked even as Higuchi tried to back out, only to have his tires shot by Watari. _Very few options left now, Higuchi. What are you going to choose?_

"Stay away! Nobody come near me!"

_That one, huh?_ Another shot rang out and the gun flew from Higuchi's hand. _Damn Watari has a nice shot. _Yagami offered to be the first to confront the man and L allowed it, so I just tried to relax and watch the show. Mr. Yagami and Mogi came out, meeting up with Aizawa on the way and giving him permission to back the two of them up. Not seconds later Higuchi was handcuffed, blindfolded, and gagged. He was then given a headset and asked how he killed.

"If you refuse to tell us, then we will employ every means we have until you comply."

There was a long silence before the man spoke of a notebook.

"You probably won't believe me, but it's a notebook where if you write the person's name with a face in mind, then that person will die. It's in the bag inside my car."

Yagami was asked to retrieve it and he began speaking until he glanced up and screamed loudly. I almost pulled my helmet off, the scream nearly bursting my eardrums as I listened to them speak, ignoring the black spots in the corner of my vision.

"What's wrong, Yagami?"

"M-Monster…"

He began freaking out and even I could see him shaking from where I was.

"Yagami, please calm down. Yagami, you don't have a gun with you right now."

"Th-That's true."

Mogi's voice then came over the earpiece.

"A-Are you alright director?"

"M-Mogi, can't you see it…"

"…Director…You must be tired, but Higuchi is caught now so-"

He began screaming too and I groaned, grabbing my helmeted head with my good (although blood covered) hand. Getting off my bike, I walked over to Mr. Yagami and Mogi before holding my hand out for the book.

"Give me the notebook so I can give it to L-Ryuzaki."

Shakily, they handed it over and I too looked up to see a large creature standing in front of Higuchi's car. I jumped a bit, but I didn't scream; whether that be due to me not caring about the odd looking creature in front of me or the fact that I was loosing a lot of blood, I didn't know.

It didn't look that bad though, now that I think of it. It was an almost skeletal like being, standing way over the height of the cars around us. She, I assume, had short shoulder length purple hair that turned white the higher up you looked and she had gold cat-like eyes (well, eye since the other was covered). She also had gold hoop earrings and tribal like designs that came down from her lips and across the sides of her face.

"Hm."

"What do you see Kitsu?"

"I guess you could call it a monster, but I suppose you'd rather see it yourself."

Walking towards him, I handed it over but right before he took it, he frowned at my shoulder with concern. I looked him in the eye, mentally telling him it was fine and he reluctantly took the book from my hands. I smirked at his excitement when he saw the creature and leaned up against the chopper when, yet another scream hit my poor ears. This time though, it was Lights.

L looked over at him a little bit concerned, but I could see the clogs working in his head. Light was acting weird and we both knew it; even more so when Light acted like nothing happened and just began flipping through the notebook. _Why is he acting like this? If he is Kira, he should be smart enough to note write in the notebook when L and I are right here…But what if he has another way to write names in the notebook without doing it directly?_ I began pondering this as my mind grew foggier by the minute when Mr. Yagami's voice shouted over the speaker again.

"Ryuzaki! Higuchi…He's-"

Glancing over into the bright lights of the police squadron, I watched as the officers tried to revive the, not deceased, Higuchi. _Kira…Light…He has another way of killing them without writing in the notebook itself…A piece…maybe?_ My thoughts began to get more and more scrambled as I slide down the helicopter and to the ground. I had lost way too much blood and my shirt was soaked through. I mentally chuckled remembering what L had done the night before, making me promise to be careful. _That's the whole reason I wore this useless bullet proof vest…What did I say back then?…Oh, right…_

"No…promises."

My vision faded to black and the last thing I heard was a voice yelling my name, as someone picked me up and laid me down somewhere cold. The feeling of their hand brushing through my hair one last time and something wet dropped on my cheek being the only things that would keep me fighting to stay alive as the helicopter lifted off towards a hospital.


	23. Chapter 22

**I am such a jerk for leaving you guys with that ending for so long. i really hope you'll forgive me with this..._fun filled_ chapter of intense chaos ^^ so please review and I'm sorry if I'm leaving you hanging on any of my other fanfics. I'm back in writer's block and have had no motivation for writing much of anything. sorry!**

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><p>"We need a blood transfusion!"<p>

"Someone keep the pressure on the wound!"

_What's going on? My chest hurts. It feels like someone sat an elephant on me…Ugh, I feel sick…and why won't my body move?_ I felt some of the pressure leave my chest and a constant high pitched sound rang out over the commotion.

"She's going into cardiac arrest!"

"Get the defibrillator!"

_Defibrillator? What for? It's not like I'm dying, right?_ The world around me felt darker than before and a chill swept throughout my body. _It's cold. Why's it so cold?_ I wanted to frown at how little information I had about what was going on, but my face couldn't even make such a simple gesture.

"Clear!"

Something hit me hard in the chest and everything hurt suddenly. It was as though someone had asked that elephant on my chest to jump just to see what would happen.

"Again!"

It happened a few more times, each time worst than the last before it stopped. _Why'd it stop? And what's that annoying tone?_ _It's pissing me off._ A lot of the pressure had decreased and I almost felt content with how I was right now. Everything felt lighter, but there was some little nagging in the back of my mind, trying to tell me that I was missing something. Something important. _What could it be? This is the best I've felt in ages and now there's some stupid thing that I can't even remember stopping me from being at peace. What the hell._

"Sir! We can't have you doing this! We need to call the time of death!"

There was pressure on my chest again, pushing down in a pattern almost. _One, two, three. Pause. One, two, three. Pause._ It continued for a moment when I felt whatever it was being pulled away form me.

"Let me go. She's not dead!"

_I know that voice._ A picture formed in my mind slowly; messy black hair, large grey eyes, pale skin wrapped in a white sweater and crouched precariously on a chair with the goofiest smile I've every seen. Reorganization finally clicked in. _L. I-I am dying and he…he's trying to save me?_ I mentally scowled and started trying to shove the elephant off my chest myself. I couldn't leave L behind.

Someone grabbed onto my hand, slowly being pulled away, but I didn't want him to go. I forced my hand to move, trying desperately to keep him here; close to me. I felt a twitch of my fingers, forcing myself to move more; to grab a hold of that hand and never let go.

"Sir!"

"Stop! She's alive!"

The annoying tone from before became the steady beeps of a heart monitor as my hand finally grasped L's and I managed to open an eye. I saw his face, paler than before but with relief written all over. I couldn't help but give a painful smirk as my vision began fading to black again.

"I'm not…leaving yet…"

* * *

><p>The task force was in a daze after what had happened when they caught Higuchi. Chief Yagami had only ended up with a few stitches, but Kitsu had nearly died twice and everyone was on edge as they waited outside her room for her to wake up. L and Watari were the only two in the room at the moment, neither having said a word since L was taken away from her the first time her heart failed. Suddenly, Watari walked out, wiping sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief with a smile on his face.<p>

"She's awake."

Sighs of relief spread through the entire group and they all shuffled in to find Kitsu sitting up and looking bored. Reaching over to itch her arm, which was now in a sling, she frowned when L smacked her hand away.

"Don't touch it."

"But it _itches!_"

She whined, causing the task force to sweat drop at her childish attitude. Sure, they were used to her childish attitude before, but this seemed a bit extreme. She locked eyes with them, blinked once and grinned, holding her arms open.

"Matsu-chan! I missed you!"

His mouth drooped open, as did everyone else's except L and Watari (who chuckled quietly), and pointed to himself.

"M-Me?"

She nodded rapidly and told him to come closer. He looked around for permission and walked over. She kept asking him to come closer and when she was able whisper in his ear, she growled.

"Get me some real damn food before I go out and rob a bakery."

He stepped back and saluted. "Y-Yes ma'am!"

Then he dashed out as she smiled politely and waved at his retreating form, ignoring the odd looks the rest of the group was giving her. L sighed and turned to the group to explain.

"She seems to have exhibited more…_extreme _personality changes due to the medication."

"Lies~! It just makes me feel a bit more…what's the word…"

"Excited?"

She nodded at L. "Yup! That's it!"

The task force sighed and Mr. Yagami was the first to speak up.

"It's nice to see you're doing okay, Kitsu. L? Would it be okay if we returned to headquarters?"

He nodded and they all left; leaving Watari, who was still smiling, and L.

"What did you tell Matsuda?"

Kitsu looked over at him innocently, cocking her head to the side. "Whatever do you mean?"

He gave her a blank stare and she tried to keep his gaze, but couldn't. Her eyes rolled and she straightened her head, giving the door a glance.

"Okay, fine. I'll drop the act. There's no hiding it from you, is there?"

"No. Now stop avoiding the question."

"Yeah, yeah. I just asked him to-" The door slammed open and Matsuda walked in panting and carrying bags of food and pastries. "pick up something."

Kitsu smiled and L gave a sigh as Matsuda placed the bags on the bed and left after he discovered that the chief had gone back to headquarters. Practically drooling, Kitsu reached out for the closest bag only for L to snatch it away before she could so much as touch it. She looked at him in shock and he just gave her a small smirk.

"I see you had Matsuda bring me some food. How kind of you."

Her mouth opened and closed like a fish, before she gave up and sighed, leaning back on her bed. She was exhausted after, as Watari and L informed her, eight hours of surgery to fix her shattered shoulder blade and repair the damage done to the axillary artery in her shoulder as well.

_She looks just as bad, if not worse, than myself on a normal basis. _L thought as he studied eyes had dark bags under them and she was still pale from all the blood loss, even her reaction time to him snatching the food from her had slowed down considerably. _But she's alive and that's what really matters._ He thought and glanced down in the bag he held, to find it didn't have pastries like he expected. Instead, it had a sandwich from the deli across the street and a bag of chips. He gave a small smile, mentally _thanking_ Matsuda for getting Kitsu something healthier than what she normally has.

He looked up and saw her staring blankly at the bags of food that were within her reach but, judging by the twitching of her hand, she was keeping herself from trying to take any of them. _Why? Is she merely not taking them because I took the first one and teased her about it? Or perhaps it's something else…Maybe she thinks I don't want her to have it because I believe they are too unhealthy for her right now since she's recovering and she's just trying to listen to me. But why would she do that? Every other time I told her not to do something she always found a loophole or did it anyway._

He paused in his thoughts as he saw her reach out towards another bag only to cringe and bring her arm back to her side empty-handed. L stared at her in curiosity, bringing his thumb to the edge of his mouth. Watari saw the boy's interest in Kitsu's movements and decided to help for a moment by asking him for a moment outside while Kitsu had her mental dilemma.

"There is a chance that she considers her injury a result of not listening to your directions, and therefore is having a harder time disregarding them as easily as she did before, Ryuzaki."

He watched his charge turn to stare back at Kitsu, who was now frowning because he left the room; most likely making her decision on whether or not to take the food even more difficult.

"She is quite dedicated to you now, you know…and you to her."

L turned back with confusion lingering in the corner of his eyes. It had gotten easier for Watari to see his young charge's emotions and, even though they were subtle, he knew it was due to Kitsu's influence.

"Ever since you took up the challenge of watching over her for signs of her being Kira, she's intrigued you. I can see how you react to the things she does, be they odd; such as when she climbed through the air duct and stole some of your cake. Or normal things, like playing the violin when she's upset or even just sitting and concentrating on a case like yourself.

Then there's the way she stays close to you. You've done something to make her want to be with you as often as she can. I don't know exactly what it is, but my best guess is you've given her something she's never had, or had very little of. Believe it or not, Ryuzaki, but you've changed each other and I suggest you don't let anything come between that."

L stared at Watari for a moment, taking in everything he said and nodded. Turning to the door of Kitsu's room with a determined look he said.

"I plan on it."

* * *

><p>I woke up I agonizing pain, the fire spreading from my shoulder throughout my body. It didn't help the nightmare I had that night, nor did I enjoy it in the early hours of the morning. Currently, I was curling in on myself trying to find some sort of relief from the pain and to keep from crying out. <em>God, this hurts…Ugh, the pain killers must have worn off. I'd be better off at headquarters with Watari than with these incompetent fools.<em>

I let out a groan and clutched at my shoulder as I sat up and shook off any remnants of sleep. Slipping out of bed, I scowled at the hospital gown and stumbled over to my closet where I knew L had put a set of spare clothes. I felt a sharp tug on my wrist and rolled my eyes at the IV. I pulled it out and tore part of the gown to wrap the small wound, grabbing my clothes and quickly changing.

I couldn't help but laugh when I discovered I was wearing the white sweater and jeans I borrowed from L a while back. Discarding the hospital gown, I debated on whether or not to put the sling back on. _I don't think I should. I mean, _yeah_ it would be the smart thing to do to heal faster, but if I do I _know_ I'll be recognized as I try to leave. It's not fun if they catch you after all._ I tossed the sling onto the bed and walked out of the room with my hands in my pockets. Gritting my teeth against the pain, I tried to think of a quick and easy way out of here when I had it.

"Hehe, perfect."

I looked around for the nearest security guard and when I found him, it was only a matter of time before I found my next victim. Just around the corner, I found a young kid in a wheelchair. Smirking, I came up next to him and smiled.

"Hey, kid. You wanna have some fun in this sucky hospital?"

Now, most kids would scream for someone right away but _this _kid just raised an eyebrow.

"What kind of fun are we talking about here?"

Patting him on the shoulder with my good hand, I got closer. "You're my kind of kid. Now what do you say we-"

I began whispering the plan to him and he smiled so devilishly, you'd think he was Kira himself.

"Let's do it."

Next thing that poor security officer knows, this kid and a bunch of his friends and I are all rolling down the halls in wheelchairs and lab coats; flipping nurse's skirts and holding rolls of toilet paper as we teepeed the building. Then came the next part of the plan.

You see, the kid told me he'd only go along with my plan if him and his friends from the pediatric clinic got away scott free. So, we spit up. Him and the main group of forces going one way while I ditched the wheelchair and doubled back, easily catching the security guard's attention. He stopped, huffing and puffing and I bent over to get a good look at his face.

"Hey, should you really be running around like that when you're pregnant, officer?"

"WHAT?!"

His face turned a brilliant red and purple shade and I swear he had some resemblance to Mr. Yagami when he gets angry. _Ah, but now's not the time to be thinking about that. Now's the time to be running in the other direction!_ I laughed and began running away from the chubby officer with a beer gut, keeping one hand on my shoulder to keep it from jostling too much.

"Get back here you hooligan!"

Looking over my shoulder I laughed even louder. "Oh? Now where have I heard that before?…That's right! You were that moron who got beat up in that one episode of COPS, right?!"

"Why you-"

I suddenly stopped and stepped to the side to let the officer go tumbling past me, right into a women's restroom. Using the screams as a distraction, I buttoned up my lab coat and asked a nice gentleman for his pair of glasses for a minute. I believe he said something along the lines of…

"Of course! This is the liveliest I've seen this place since I got here! It's about time I saw some action!"

With those things accomplished, I also grabbed some gloves, a hair cap, a face mask, and some hot sauce or ketchup or something from one of the patient's lunch; smearing it on my hands just as the officer came out with a red face. I smiled behind the mask before looking like I was freaking out, dashing up to the officer and grabbing his uniform with my _'blood'_ covered hands.

"Officer! Have you seen a bleeding patient around?! The man just walked right out of a bypass surgery!"

The man was turning green at the sight of the 'blood' and quickly pushed me off him and ran off down the hall saying something about going to look for my 'missing patient'. I couldn't help it then, and began full on laughing as the gentleman from before joined me. I returned his glasses with a thank you, only for him to return the thanks for making his day more enjoyable.

I removed the gloves and walked out of the hospital with no problems, whistling as I pulled the officer's keys from my pocket and twirled them around my finger.

"God, I love my job."

Sure, a few people back up when they heard that coming from a _supposed _doctor in 'blood' splattered clothing, but I couldn't of had a better morning; painful shoulder or otherwise.

* * *

><p>Watari's voice came over the laptop L was currently typing on, causing some concern in the group.<p>

"L, there seems to have been a disturbance at the hospital Kitsu is staying at."

"Show me the video feed and put it on the main screen."

Kitsu in a wheelchair with a bunch of younger kids following, all in lab coats and holding toilet paper were rolling down the halls of the hospital. The task force all stared opened mouthed as they watched the rest of the chaos unfold at the hospital. The kids all got away and it was just Kitsu left, actually stopping right in front of the officer; her voice echoing in the speakers.

"_Hey, should you really be running around like that when you're pregnant, officer?"_

"_WHAT?!"_

Completely shocked at her blunt statement, they continued to stare transfixed to the screen as the man chased her around the hospital.

"_Get back here you hooligan!"_

"_Oh? Now where have I heard that before?…That's right! You were that moron who got beat up in that one episode of COPS, right?!"_

"_Why you-"_

Matsuda was trying desperately to stifle his chuckles, that even Mr. Yagami's glare couldn't stop. It was when Kitsu suddenly stopped and watched the man fall into the ladies room that Matsuda burst at the seams, falling to the floor and clutching his stomach.

"Matsuda!"

"I-I'm sorry…Ahaha…It's just too funny!"

Mr. Yagami sighed and pulled a hand down his face when he saw Kitsu speaking with a gentleman in a wheelchair nearby and taking his glasses.

"Good God. What is she doing now?"

They all turned back to the screen as she put on gloves, a face mask, and a hair net; pouring something red on her hands just as the officer retreated from the bathroom. She ran up to the man and began spouting nonsense, forcing Matsuda to start laughing all over again as the man turned green and ran down the hall.

L sighed, but a small smirk was still visible on his face as the scene changed another camera just inside the waiting room. Kitsu was whistling and twirling a set of keys around her finger.

"_God, I love my job."_

Several people in the waiting room either shuffled away from her or stared at her in shock as she strolled out the door in her red stained outfit. Matsuda was practically gasping for air on the floor while Light and Mr. Yagami face palmed. The door to the room opened and all eyes turned to Kitsu as she walked in with her white and red lab coat still around her shoulders; a big smile on her face.

"I see you guys found out about the hospital."

"What the hell do you think you're doing?! You're still recovering from a gunshot wound and eight hours of surgery!"

She blinked once at Mr. Yagami and turned to Matsuda on the floor; his face red and laughter still spilling from his lips.

"Matsuda seemed to have enjoyed it. Besides…I was bored."

The task force paled, worried for their sanity as the woman headed up the stairs with a smirk. Light was the first to snap out of it with a sigh.

"What the devil have we gotten ourselves into?"

"What indeed. It appears we will have to cure Kitsu's boredom before we chase after Kira." There was a silent pause when he got up and spoke once more. "Looks like you're safe for a while longer, Light."

Mr. Yagami was about to snap at L but stopped when he saw the teasing, almost love-struck face of the detective as he walked up the stairs after Kitsu. _Looks like he has some feelings after all…but his feelings for her have me questioning _his_ sanity as well._ He chuckled quietly and turned back to the monitors wondering how much sanity any of them had left.


	24. Chapter 23

**Okay, i'm sure you guys are tired of the wait and my apologies so I'll skip the whole part where I tell you why I was so late updating this and I'll tell you something about this chapter instead ^^ I hope this gives you readers an insight as to Kitsu and how she feels for L. She's definitely strugling right now, so I hope you guys understand if she seems a bit out of character.**

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><p>When I made it to my room, I groaned and flopped down on my bed. My body was protesting every move I made after my little hospital get away and as I sat up to inspect my wound, I frowned at the red stain on L's white sweater.<p>

"That's gonna be a pain to get out…but that's what Watari's for~"

I smirked, silently apologizing to the man as I removed the sweater just as L walked in the room.

"What? Knocking is too much for you?"

"I simply knew you wouldn't open the door if I knocked."

I rolled my eyes. "What makes you think that?"

He look at me with a raised brow. "You forget that you are stubborn when it comes to having someone treat you injuries."

He was right, but I wasn't up for arguing with him right now. I sighed, and winced as my shoulder moved slightly. Gritting my teeth, I clutched at the bandages around my shoulder and groaned a bit.

"How the hell he missed the jacket I'll never know. Damn thing was useless."

I felt a pair of hands wrap around me and pulled my hand away from the bandages. I tensed, out of habit, and hissed in pain as I felt my wound tear a bit. The hands tightened and pulled me against L's chest, his scent relaxing me a bit.

"Relax, Kitsu. You've reopened your wound."

I growled softly, but allowed him to peel off the bandage around my shoulder. I tensed when he got down to the last bit, knowing that it was stuck to my wound and would hurt like hell when he removed it. L sighed behind me and somehow managed to remove it without it hurting too much, which surprised me. Sitting forward a bit, I turned towards him.

"How'd you do that?! Every time I try to do something like that, I end up ripping it off like a Band-Aid!"

He gave a short chuckle and got up. "I'll go get Watari."

I don't know what caused me to do this, but I grabbed his wrist…with my bad arm. _Gah! Stupid, stupid, stupid! That hurts!_

"Yes?"

"Uh…take me with you?"

He rose a brow. "Why? I won't be long."

"O-Oh…Okay then."

He gave a small nod and left, leaving me there to scold myself. _Idiot. What do you think you're doing? What happened to the tough, I-don't-care-what-you-say-I'm-not-gonna-listen Kitsu? Now you're sitting here making yourself vulnerable just like you did when Natsu was killed._ I frowned as the memories hit me and I stuttered in a breath.

"So stupid. I'm going to get us both killed."

I couldn't help thinking about how my feelings have changed L and, although I sometimes feel it's for the better, I know Kira could take advantage of those feelings and it that happens…_It'll be all my fault._ I dropped my head into my hands as my body shuddered with a silent sob. Just then, I heard footsteps approaching and I quickly sobered up. Watari and L walked in and Watari gave me a kind smile that I returned.

"Nice to see you again, Kitsu. Although I'm sure the circumstances could be better."

I gave a shot chuckle. "Well, yeah~ Oh! I hope you have a ton of bleach. That blood stain on this sweater's gonna be tough to get out."

I held up the bloodied sweater in question and he gave a half-chuckle, half-sigh.

"Of course. Now please hold still so I can close your wound."

My smile faded a bit, knowing that this was _probably_ going to hurt, but I didn't make a sound as I felt him stitch me back up. As he did so, I was quick to be absorbed in my previous thoughts. The plan would happen soon, that I knew. What I didn't know, was if everything would go as planned. _L was right. There's too many variables and if something happens to Watari…I have no way of possibly helping him…L will be devastated._

"-tsu. Kitsu!"

I jumped, grabbing my shoulder with a hiss, before peering at L through my one open eye. He sighed again (he seemed to be doing that a lot lately) and sat down next to me, pulling my hand away from my shoulder again.

"I apologize for surprising you, but you were not responding."

I couldn't help but relax as his hands hugged my shoulders and brought me close to him, until I remembered what I had been thinking about before. I pulled myself away from him and tried to keep my eyes from wandering to his surprised and…_hurt_ looking face. I winced when I did get a glimpse, having never seen that emotion on his face, and knowing that _I_ had caused it just had me falling apart at the seams.

"Kitsu?"

_It's in his voice too. The sound of betrayal._ "I'm sorry, L. I just-"

"I understand."

I quickly looked over at him as he rose off the bed without a word and walked to the door. _He's misunderstanding! Stop him you idiot!_ My hand reached out, but I let it fall as he left the room; my voice failing to speak my thoughts. Silence engulfed the room and I fell back onto the bed with a wince. _Maybe this way is better…This way…we won't be hurt._

* * *

><p>The next morning was awkward for the whole team. L sat facing the computer screens playing with empty crème cups while Kitsu sat facing her corner, putting a puzzle together. No one was sure what happened between them, but Light was mentally happy with how things seemed to be turning out. <em>Hm, interesting. I know I have no way of bringing Kitsu to my side, she's too…what's the word…hardheaded when it comes to L. <em>Him,_ on the other hand, perhaps I could use this._

"How to use" Aizawa started reading. "'The human whose name is written in this notebook shall die.'"

Kitsu, unknown to most people in the room, had paused in her puzzle making to listen in.

"'The note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind while writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.'"

_Which is why only prisoners whose face were shown were killed. That proves the need a face and a name theory, but why was the second Kira able to use just a name?_ Kitsu thought as she set the piece of her puzzle down.

"'If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen. If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack. After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.'"

_40 seconds. It's mentioned twice. Is that how much time that person has to live after his/her name is written down? If so…that might explain why Light was checking his watch in that surveillance video! He was writing down something on a piece of paper too! That could have been a piece of the death note! Wait…is that even possible? Would you still be able to use a piece that was torn out of the death note? I'll have to ask Rem about that one. _Kira frowned as Aizawa flipped to the back of the notebook.

"Also, the how to use written on the backside. 'If the person using the note fails to write the names of people to be killed within 13 days of each other, then the user will die."

Kitsu suddenly got up and headed over, a slight grimace of pain visible on her face from the strain. She took the book from Aizawa, to everyone's surprise and began flipping between the front and the back. Rem watched her with shocked eyes. _Has she figured it out already?!_ Even Light had a dangerous gleam to his eyes as he watched Kitsu. He knew that if she did figure it out he would have to get rid of her. And fast.

Unknown to them, Kitsu _had _figured it out. She figured out a good majority of it, but she had no solid evidence. _The rules in the back _have_ to be fake. There's plenty of room in the front to put this rule there, so why put it in the back? And isn't it just damn convenient for Light if this rule was true?_ Aizawa, angered that Kitsu had decided to intervene, snatched the book back.

"There's one more rule. 'If you make this note unusable by cutting it or burning it, all the humans who have touched the note till then will die.'"

Kitsu paused, briefly looked at L, and went back to her corner to think. She held a single white puzzle piece between her fingers and fiddled with it as she thought. _These last two rules are very convenient. With these two, Light and Misa will be proven innocent due to his time in confinement _and_ we can't get rid of the death note, so it's always within reach. Not only that, but it will keep us from using the death note for fear of dying. If we get a person use it on a person who's supposed to die though…_Kitsu shook her head. _No. The simple minded task force would think it as inhumane._

"Care to share your thoughts, Kitsu?"

Kitsu turned to look at L, only to find he hadn't moved. She sighed and ripped a piece of licorice violently.

"Rem." The shinigami turned towards her. "Are the rules the same in every death note?"

"Yeah, they're the same. There are tons of notebooks in the reaper's realm, but the rules are all the same . Same for when a human holds it. There's no mistaking that."

Kitsu noticed something as Rem looked towards the screens showing Misa, and the other task force members told L to release the surveillance on Light and Misa. _L has no choice really. It's either accept what they are saying or be alienated. Not only that, but there's a problem. I need to talk to Rem, privately._

Everyone soon left the room after verifying part of the 'eye deal' and the task force guided Light to Misa's room. It wasn't long before the couple were left alone and Light went on to the next step of his plan while Aizawa kept L from spying on them any longer. When this happened, Kitsu immediately stood up and began climbing the stairs; coming to a stop as she felt eyes on her. L watched her from below, the same hurt from the night before flashing across his eyes for a brief moment before he turned towards his blank surveillance screens.

"L." Kitsu knew he wouldn't look at her, so she continued. "I'll send you a video feed in a minute. It should be interesting at the least and…I'm only trying to protect what could be the next victim."

She hoped he understood what she was trying to say, giving him a glance despite the fact that he wasn't looking at her. Her heart clenched and she tensed up with a grimace before casting her gaze towards Rem. Their eyes met and Kitsu left the room with a heavy heart at not having the ability to tell L what she really wanted him to know.


	25. Chapter 24

**Finally! It's the long awaited chapter! Definitely longer than normal, but who cares? ^^ Now all those questions about what the big plan is will be revealed! :) I hope it's satisfactory and that I didn't make anyone out of character. So please review! It's nice to here from all you people.**

**Oh, and the words in "Bold" are voices over a computer...like a video...if that makes sense...anyway, you'll understand when you get there.  
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><p>I sighed and sent the video feed of Light to L with a quick note explaining what I thought, the moment I got to my room. I then grabbed a drink from my fridge and made sure that the cameras in my room were properly covered, and that I disabled any hidden microphones as well. Just as I finished, Rem walked through the wall.<p>

"Hi, Rem."

"You wished to speak with me?"

_Man, is she in a hurry._ "Yeah." I said as I plopped down on my bed. "You like Misa, don't you?"

She glared at me, of course. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Right." I sighed and rubbed the back of my head nervously. "Well…You prefer her over most humans, right?"

Her eyes narrowed even further, proving that she wasn't liking where this conversation was going. I had no choice though. I needed her to do something for me if this plan was going to work out.

"What does it matter whether I prefer her or not?"

"Hm, you see, _I_ think you do like her and I also think you're being used by Light. When you answer our questions, you seem to purposely be very general about the information. Not giving us a 'yes' or 'no' answer and instead saying 'maybe'. You know what I mean?"

She didn't respond, so I continued.

"Anyway, I have a plan that I think could work out for the both of us. It will fool Light into thinking he won and it will protect Misa."

"You can't trick him."

I smirked, pleased that she responded. _It means I'm getting somewhere._

"Actually, I think I can. Believe it or not, I'm probably just as smart as him and L." I shrugged. "But you don't have to believe me. Although, as far as the plan goes, it will only work if you do something for me."

"What is this plan? And what makes you think you can treat me as a tool to suit your needs?"

"I'm not trying to start a conflict between us, Rem, and I'm not using you. If anything, you will be using me." She frowned, so I explained. "Think about it. If you agree with what I need you to do, then I will tell you my plan and technically you could just tell Light and that will be the end of me. _You_ hold the control."

"What is it I will be doing and how will this help Misa?"

_Gotcha._ "You won't really be _doing_ anything. The only thing I need you to do is withhold a little bit of information from Light. As far as helping Misa, I will have to explain the plan first."

I was almost certain that she would agree with what I needed her to do at this point, so I briefly explained what I was planning to do. She didn't interrupt me and when I had finished, she stayed quiet for a moment; looking at me with calculating eyes.

"I haven't agreed to this yet. Why tell me?"

"Simple." I said, taking a swig of my strawberry milk. "I trust you. More so than most of the people in the other room, in fact."

"Why?"

"You haven't once lied to us. I can tell. Sure, you haven't been giving us all the information, but that doesn't make what you have told us a lie. That, and you have the same eyes as I do." I lifted my gaze from my drink and stared into her own cat-like eyes. "They're the eyes that say you will risk your life to protect the one closest to you."

She seemed…surprised, for lack of a better word, and I silently wondered what was going through her head at the moment. She was, after all, the only enigma to my plan and the only thing that could ruin everything L and I had prepared for.

"How will keeping this information from Light help save Misa?"

_Rem is sooo interesting. I like the way she thinks._ I thought, trying to keep the grin off my face. "If L is gone, then he won't be around to arouse suspicion on her, for one thing. Plus, it means Light will take over as lead investigator and since he finds her useful, no offense, he will continue to keep her around while making sure the other task force members don't suspect her either."

"What about the other half of your plan?"

"Once the replacements take charge, they will definitely not join up with the task force. Knowing that, they also won't have a problem suspecting Misa either. Which is why I will be there with them at various intervals, making sure that they do not suspect her."

"How can I trust you to do that? How do I know you won't break up on you side of the deal?"

I gave her a steady gaze, deadly serious. "I _will_ protect Misa. She is one of the innocent pawns in this game that Light has made up and I will not let her get hurt."

Rem continued to watch me, as though trying to see if I was lying, when my serious look suddenly turned into a cheerful smile.

"Besides~ If you don't like the way things are going, you can just kill me. If my side of the bargain is screwed up, just have Kira write my name in the death note. Either way, L is safe and you will still have control over this plan."

There was a pause, before she turned and started walking towards the wall. "Very well. I will agree to this plan of yours…As long as Misa is safe."

"Then I shall do my best. I don't want to die, after all."

I smiled and waved as she went straight through the wall, before falling backwards onto my bed. _God, I hope this works out, because tomorrow is the day everything will be set into motion. I should make up with L too, but it's probably better if I don't for right now. As much as I want to, I know it helps with the plan as well. I need to be as convincing as possible._ I yawned and slowly went to sleep, hopefully with dreams instead of nightmares of what could go wrong.

* * *

><p>"Now, for the accidental deaths, we will check all of them that have occurred in the Kanto region since Kira appeared. For the deaths by illness, we will check all young people who have died from sudden illness, and look into the areas, their occupations, and from all other possible angles, to see if there are any common trends." Light rambled off to the task force and Matsuda whined.<p>

"Geeze."

"Matsuda, quit it. That's the only way we can approach this if another note does exist somewhere." Aizawa muttered out angrily.

Really, everyone was a bit exasperated at all the information they had to go through, aside from L. He seemed to have the knack of getting the easy jobs and was currently speaking with Rem about Higuchi; a small ice cream cone being balanced precariously in one hand.

"So, before you gave the note to Higuchi, you were visiting the human world occasionally to look around?"

"That is right."

"Then why did you give the note to Higuchi?"

"I did not give it to him I dropped it and Higuchi picked it up accidentally."

Light was keeping a close watch on L and Rem's conversation, just to make sure everything was going according to his plan. He couldn't have Rem giving away unnecessary information, after all. _Misa should have found the note and regained her memory by now. _He thought._ If she remembers the real name of Hideki Ryuga, then I can get rid of Ryuzaki anytime now and, even if she doesn't remember, Misa must have done the eyes deal with Ryuk for me. And that deal will soon become useful!_

"Matsuda." Kitsu had gotten up from her corner and brought a memory stick over to Matsuda. "Here. I was looking into this stuff before, so I thought it could get rid of half the workload."

"Huh? What is it?" He asked as he took the memory stick from her, plugging it into his own laptop.

"It's any information on odd deaths that have happened since Kira was discovered up until a few weeks ago."

She turned around and started heading back to her corner, giving L a brief glance with heartbroken eyes.

"Wow! Thanks, Kitsu! This is great! It makes my work so much easier." He cried.

Kitsu simply waved over her shoulder and sat back down. _Then there's her._ Light thought. _I really need to get rid of her. Perhaps I could take her and L out at the same time…Or even better, wait until after L is killed and frame a suicide. The task force would be clueless._

The computer beeped and it was discovered that Misa had come to visit. Rem immediately turned towards the screen, ignoring the looks she received from L and Kitsu. _Ryuk…Why is he with Misa? _She quickly thought about it and it didn't take long for her to have figured it out. _Light Yagami…The note swaps between Ryuk and I that night. That was for Misa to get the note that she was using?_ She suddenly noticed something else even more important. _No, he…This cannot be…Misa, your lifespan has been shorted again. You did the deal with Ryuk?_

"Is something wrong, Shinigami?"

Rem turned back around and kept her face blank. _The girl, Kitsu has already figured out my feelings towards Misa. No need for this detective to find out as well._

"No."

"I see."

L continued his previous questioning when he suddenly remembered the video and note Kitsu had sent to him the previous night. Judging by the information he was given, the evidence was certainly stacking up against Light and he had stayed up all night trying to figure out if Kitsu's theory of the ripped Death Note was plausible.

"In this murderer's note book…" He held up said book to a certain page. "This page here has a corner that has been cut off. Would a person die if you were to write a name on that little piece?"

"I wonder. I've never used it like that, so I wouldn't know." _As I thought, this person thinks the same way as Light Yagami. He thinks about things on the same level._

"L, it has to be possible. It says so in the rules."

L quickly turned to find Kitsu taking the notebook from him and sitting down cross-legged on the floor next to him. She flipped all the way to the back of the book and pointed to a specific rule.

"Right here, see? 'If you make this note unusable by cutting it or burning it, all the humans who have touched the note till then will die.' Yet, the note's already had a piece ripped from it and nothing's happened. Watch."

She ripped a corner off, surprising Rem. "See? Nothing."

_This girl…she's turned one of Light's impregnable rules against him in a matter of seconds. And she was willing to take the chance of all of them dying to prove it. She stated before that she thought she was on par with this detective and Light, but she almost thinks on a higher level than either of them._ L was also very intrigued with what Kitsu had said and couldn't believe that he had missed that important piece of information. To him, this small piece of evidence meant two things. The last note in the Death Note was a fake and that it is _highly _possible for Light Yagami to write someone's name down on even the smallest slip of paper, say Naomi's for instant, and have them die. _Not only that, but this gives a very high chance that one, if not all, of the other rules are also false. Approximately an 87% chance, actually._

Light returned in that moment and Kitsu, slightly disappointed that L didn't say anything about her findings, got up to return to her corner, slipping that piece of the Death Note in her pocket without anyone noticing.

"Light, you're early." L said, before going off in a short conversation with Light about going out with Misa. Kitsu had actually not made it past the couch L was crouched on and when she saw the look he had on his face when he finished the conversation with Light, she ruffled his hair in an attempt to comfort him. Unbeknownst to her, he was glad for that moment and silently wished to embrace her and apologize for the way he was acting before. Of course, he also quickly pushed away that thought using the excuse that she was being the stubborn one and that he had nothing to apologize for.

"L, can you come with me for a moment? I need to speak with you alone."

The task force, Light, Rem, and L all glanced between the two. The task force was worried what was happening since Kitsu and L had obviously had a fight of some sort and weren't on talking terms. Light was just questioning what she could have discovered and if it would hurt his plan. L, a bit reluctantly, got up and began to follow her up the stairs with silent concern as to what she was planning, but Rem knew what was going to happen and briefly remembered something Kitsu had mentioned the other night.

"_This is pretty much the plan then, Rem. I'm hoping it'll all go down smoothly tomorrow, but there's one other thing I'm worried about." Her eyes grew sorrowful as she gazed out at the moon, just barely visible from her window. "Besides you, there was another anomaly. Watari."_

"_What about him makes him a problem?"_

"_I fear he is going to die no matter what I do. The moment L and I are gone, I am certain Light will either kill him or have someone else do it. I also fear that 'someone else' is going to be you, Rem."_

"_You…fear for _me_?"_

_She laughed a bit. "Yeah. You're pretty cool, actually. Intelligent too…But Rem, if you are told to kill Watari could you…make it quick? Painless?"_

Even then, Rem was shocked at her words and how she could somehow worry about everyone else before herself. Vocally, Rem never agreed to doing what she said, but Rem truly liked her and pondered that night on what she would do. _If I didn't have Misa, I would have surely chosen her._ She thought and made sure to watch the screen of Kitsu's laptop, she had left behind on the coffee table, with the others; showing the live footage of the hallway Kitsu and L were now standing in.

**"What is it you wanted to speak about, Kitsu? This is no time for personal matters."**

Kitsu turned around with a sad smile on her face. **"Y-Yeah. Sorry about that, but I wanted to let you know something. Something important."**

L silently waited for a moment when his eyes widened at seeing tears fall from Kitsu's face while she struggled to keep smiling.

"**L, I…I love you and I-I don't want you to die by Kira's hands so…I'm sorry."**

She suddenly pulled out a gun from the back of her jeans and fired, hitting L square in the chest. The task force was completely stunned into silence when another shot rang out. Kitsu fell backwards to the ground and the task force decided enough was enough.

They hurried up the stairs into the hallway and found both, L and Kitsu lying on the ground with blood pooling around them. Watari was there as well, assumingly the man who fired the second shot that hit Kitsu. He was already checking L's pulse and as tears streamed down his face as well, the task force was suddenly hit with the truth.

"H-He's gone." Watari said, crying silently before getting up and going to check on Kitsu as well.

"Ryuzaki? Ryuzaki! Hey, Ryuzaki!" Light yelled, barely being held back by the other members of the task force.

"Light, calm…calm down." His father said to him, trying to stay level-headed, but none of the task force knew what was really going on in his head. _What the hell, Kitsu?! L, you can't be dead! I was supposed to kill you! Me! What was the point of us playing this stupid game if I didn't kill you, dammit!_

Watari carefully picked up Kitsu and brought her over next to L, confirming the thought that was on everyone's mind. "She is gone as well."

"W-Why would she do this? It doesn't make any sense! Kitsu wouldn't have done this! Right?!" Matsuda glanced at everyone, but they all bowed their heads, none of them wanting to say anything at the moment.

"She said, didn't she?" Light muttered; the task force's grip in him loosening a little. "She killed him because she didn't want Kira to kill him. She selfishly took one of our only chances at finding Kira and fucking killed him!" He shouted, breaking free of the task force's hold just long enough to kick her injured shoulder, but not even a grimace crossed her face.

"Please remove him, Mr. Yagami. I need to call an ambulance." Watari said.

"Of course."

* * *

><p>The ambulance arrived and carried off the two bodies in black body bags before loading them into the vehicle. The doors closed and Watari sat in the back of the van with one of the two paramedics, who removed their helmet with a huff.<p>

"Stupid kid. I was planning on leaving this country by today." The woman said, revealing shoulder length blonde hair as she removed the wig she was also wearing.

Watari gave a brief chuckle, wiping away at the tears he'd shed. "Yes, well, you have to admit it was quite the plan. Although, she most certainly will not be happy when she wakes up."

The ambulance stopped at a stop light and a smiling male glanced in the back, having already removed his helmet and disguise.

"Why what happened? Her plan went perfectly, didn't it? She's my Foxy, after all."

"Not quite, Aiber. Light managed to get in a good blow to her previously injured shoulder. She is lucky she brought up the 'Romeo and Juliet' poison and I was able to research it and find something similar."

"Huh. Serves the brat right."

Watari chuckled again at Wedy's comment and silently thanked Kitsu for coming up with this plan. He also hoped she would take good care of his charge, for he too felt as though he didn't have much longer. _She is good for him and he, her. Ah, the world these two could create. Hm, I'm sounding older already._


	26. Author's Note! SUPER Important!

**Oh man, you guys are going to be very upset about this, but I won't be updating for a while. My laptop died on me Christmas Eve and I haven't been able to fix it. T.T It really sucks because I was in the middle of writing updates (for The Black Panther, Street Smarts, and Amber Leaves) and it just stopped working and now it won't turn on. It's possible that I will lose **_**everything**_** as far as ongoing fanfic ideas, new chapters, and new fanfics. My mom is trying to save everything, but I don't know if my computer will be fixed or if I'll have to get a new one and start over.**

**I **_**will**_** have you know that I am handwriting the next chapter for Amber Leaves in a notebook right now and I will use my family's other computer to update it soon, hopefully. If I'm lucky, my computer problems will be solved soon, but for now most of my updates will be slow or on hold. So I'm super sorry for all of you who have been looking for updates and for those of you who are following me and now have 8 new emails from me. ^^**


	27. Chapter 26

**Couldn't help but want to update something and I recently got a review for this and though, oh hell. why not? ^^ so here you go. I hope L and Kitsu are in character, but review if you think otherwise and I'll do what i can to fix it in the next chapter. if not, well then, please review anyway! they encourage me to write more~**

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><p><em>Soft violin music was playing in the inky blackness that surrounded me. Tartini's Violin Concerto in E-minor. In front of me, was Watari holding hands with a young L walking and smiling.<em>

"_It's nice, isn't it?" A voice said from my right, but I couldn't turn and see who it was._

"_Yeah."_

"_That's too bad then. After all, I have to get rid of them. Can't have them getting in my way."_

_My eyes widened as Watari clutched his chest and collapsed to the ground, a little L shaking him before turning to glare in my direction. He stood up and shouted at me._

"_This is your fault!"_

_I shook my head. "N-No! I didn't do it!"_

"_You might as well have." He was older now and standing behind him, I saw Light grinning manically._

"_I didn't do it! Kira did! Light did! I-I wanted to save him!"_

"_Then why didn't you?"_

_My voice caught in my throat and Light stepped up next to him, talking softly into L's ear._

"_That's right, L. She killed him. She could have saved him, but she didn't. Selfish, isn't she? Only willing to save you and herself, and nobody else."_

"_No! Don't listen to him! He's wrong! He's Kira!" I shouted, having found my voice again._

_L frowned and turned away, walking off with Light's arm over his shoulder. Turning his head to the side, he paused for a moment._

"_I don't know who to trust anymore…but it's definitely not you."_

_I fell to my knees as Light grinned at me and walked away with L, only for L to clutch his chest and fall to the ground as Light laughed._

"_No…"_

_Light walked over to me then, lifting my chin as I glared at him._

"_Now, Kitsu. You're the only one left. You're the last person in my way. I've already gotten rid of the others. See?"_

_He turned my head over to the side where a pile of dead bodies were stacked up. Matsuda, Chief, Aizawa, Mogi, Ukita, Misa, Near, Mello, Matt, Aiber, and Wedy. Forcing me to face him again, I felt my throat clench as I held back tears at seeing them._

"_What a pitiful face, Kitsu. I thought you were stronger than that, but it looks like you got too close to them. You're not allowed to do that, remember? Ah, but I guess it doesn't matter. You're going to join them soon enough, but I have something more fun planned for you. You've gotten in my way just one too many times, so I'm a bit upset."_

_He let go of me and faked being upset, as I felt chains slither around my body and yank me up against a wall with my arms spread wide. He looked over at my predicament and smirked, coming over to caress my cheek._

"_What a shame. But at least we both get what we want. You get to be with L…and I get to see pain etched onto your face."_

_Pain suddenly flooded my senses and I woke up with a start._

Sitting up in my seat, I gasped for air as I tried to remember where I was. The dark lit seats of the airplane calmed me down, but only slightly. I turned to see if I had disturbed L, except he wasn't there next to me. My heart skipped a beat and I suddenly stood up to search the cabin, not completely over what had happened in my nightmare as my breathing grew short and my vision tunneled. _L…I need to find L._ Just as I got up though, I saw a hunched figure walking back over to me and my tense muscles relaxed a bit as he came over.

"Where did you go?"

"Bathroom."

He sat down and I shakily did as well, trying to control my breathing and holding my head in my hands.

"Is everything alright, sir?"

I glanced up at the stewardess who stared down at me in concern, a small flashlight in her hands. Excusing her mistaking me for a man, I shook my head.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. Just…a headache."

"I can bring you something for it, if you want."

I waved a hand at her. "No. I'm fine."

She nodded and left, leaving me to sit there and feel L's gaze on my back. _I can't drag him into my own problems. It's just a nightmare anyway. _Sitting up straight once more, I let out a deep breath and leaned my head back against the seat, eyes closed. I felt something touch my hand and I flinched, opening my eyes only to see L's hand on my own. He was watching me, searching for what might've frightened me, but I just closed my eyes once more so he couldn't see the fear.

"Sorry, Ryuzaki." I said, remembering to use his alias. "Just a bit jumpy is all."

He didn't seem convinced, however, he did turn back to the window and pulled his hand back. My own hand felt a bit cold without his covering it, but I just crossed my arms and stared up at the ceiling. I had to stay awake somehow.

"Ryuzaki?"

He turned to me, raising a brow in question.

"I…I'm sorry."

"What for?"

I glanced down at him with sorrow and fear. I didn't want to tell him. I _couldn't_ tell him. _I know Watari is going to die. Just say it._ I couldn't. His eyes, I knew they wouldn't be nearly as bright as they were now. He would hate me if I told him. _I'm so selfish._ _I'm not telling him for my own selfish reasons. He doesn't deserve to be next to someone like me._

"For being selfish." I muttered, returning my gaze to the ceiling.

* * *

><p>Rodger sat at his desk with his hands propped up under his chin. Before him, Mello stood, waiting to find out what was going on as did Near, although he was a bit more calm about the situation and was sitting on the ground with a puzzle.<p>

"What's wrong, Rodger?" Mello asked, knowing that he wasn't in trouble for anything unlike the last time he was in the man's office.

"L is dead."

Mello's mouth dropped open and he hurried up to Rodger's desk. "Dead?! B-But how?!"

Rodger didn't answer, hoping that this plan Watari, L, and this Kitsu person had come up with would work.

"D-Do you mean he was killed by Kira? Is that it?"

"Most likely, yes."

Mello grew even angrier, grabbing Rodger by the lapel. "He was going to get Kira the death sentence and now…He's dead? Is that what you're telling me?!"

"Mello…"

"What about Kitsu?! Is she dead too?!"

"I-I do not know."

Suddenly, Near dumped his puzzle pieces on the ground, having flipped his puzzle over and lifted it over his head.

"If we don't win the game-if we don't solve the puzzle-we're nothing more than failures."

Mello gave him a look and turned back to Rodger. "So, L, between Near and me, who did he…"

"I'm afraid he hadn't yet chosen, Mello and now he is dead, you see. Mello, Near…How about you both work together."

"Yes. Agreed." Near said.

"Impossible, Rodger! You know how Near and I don't get along. We've always been rivals. Listen, Rodger…Near will be the one to succeed L. Unlike me, he'll do the job calmly, without emotion, like he was solving a puzzle. I'm leaving! From the institute, too!"

"Mello!" Rodger called out, getting up from his seat. _You didn't mention this, L!_

"Rodger, do whatever you want. I'll be 15 in no time, after all. I'll live out my own way." Mello said, closing the door to Rodger's office behind him. Mello then packed his stuff and left the orphanage. _There's no way Kitsu's dead. If Rodger doesn't know, then that must mean she's alive and if she is, I'll prove to her and to everyone that I can be just as good as Near. I'm not going to stay second best anymore._

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><p>Once the plane had touched down, I was exhausted. I hadn't gotten an ounce of sleep and my nerves were constantly on edge just because of that one nightmare I had. Luckily, we were to be picked up at the airport by someone from Whammy's. Yup. That's right. Whammy's. With L having to stay hidden from Kira, he couldn't be roaming out and about, so I suggested staying there. Not only that, but I needed to be keeping track of Mello and Near. That was phase two.<p>

Mello and Near were supposed to start working on catching the real Kira. If Rodger had followed the email Watari had sent him, then he should've lied and announced that L was dead to the two geniuses. All we had to do now, was head over to Whammy's and confirm that everything was on track. Then, we'd stay there for as long as needed to take care of Kira and L would go back to what he was known for. There was only a number of problems though, most of which were discovered upon arrival to Whammy's.

"What?" I asked, Rodger's words having just flowed in one ear and out the other. "Mello left?"

Rodger nodded. "Yes. I informed him of L's death and he simply asked about you, for some reason. I told him I didn't know because I didn't want to effect whatever plan you two had in motion and he left the orphanage."

"Hm." I hummed, rubbing the back of my neck. "Well, I guess that's okay. I should've expected it, to be honest. I'm guessing Matt left too?"

He nodded. "Not long after Mello did. Although, I am curious to know…Who are you? And what is you connection to all of this?"

"Oh. I used to be a Kira suspect."

Rodger went pale and I laughed, waving my hand. "Haha, calm down, old man. I said _used to_. L cleared me of that a while ago. As for how I'm involved with Mello and them…mmm…We bumped into each other when they came to Japan in search of L. Helped me catch onto Kira before he caught onto us."

Rodger cleared his throat. "And they let _you_ into this plan?"

I shook my head. "Hell no. I'm the one who made the plan."

His eyes widened. "You can't be serious."

I nodded. "Sure am. Why else would L trust me enough to bring me here? Not to mention with him." I gazed towards the door, L having not came with me to talk to Rodger. "Surprising since he's so beat up about Watari's death. Has hardly said a word since getting on the plane."

Rodger nodded, solemnly. "That's to be expected. He was the first, after all. Watari personally took him in and left the rest of the children to me."

I sighed. "Yeah, well, I'm not good with this comforting stuff…I don't really have much of a choice though."

"Y-You _comfort_ him?"

I scoffed, giving the man a look. "Uh, yeah? He's human too, you know."

With that, I walked out and headed up to where I had followed L to his room. Mine was situated across from his since no one else was even allowed up there. Once I got to the door though, I hesitated, having to swallow thickly and gather my courage before I could open the door. L was just sitting in his usual crouch on a chair, staring out the window at where the kids were playing around outside.

"Uh, L?"

I saw him glance at me out of the corner of his eye and assumed I had his attention.

"Rodger said that Mello left the orphanage with Matt following. I can still do the plan though. It just requires a bit more work."

Nothing but a slight nod and I sighed again, rubbing the back of my neck. "Look. I just wanted to tell you so you knew what was going on, okay? And…if you want, we can go visit his grave later."

He nodded again and I went ahead and laid back on his bed with my hands behind my head.

"You know, L? I understand what you're going through. You don't have to be all quiet about it." I said, hoping to get through to him, if only a little. "I mean, look! My mom died and my dad was a pain about the whole thing, but Watari's death isn't your fault, you know?"

I winced as I remembered the nightmare I had on the plane. _I want to tell him, but I-I don't know how he'll take it._ I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath, enjoying the little bit of relaxation I was getting aside from all the mental stress that was beginning to pile up.

"L…I hope you come out of this slump soon. I can't do this plan by myself…" I opened my eyes and looked over at the slumped figure. "You want some cake? Maybe some strawberry milk too? I can get you some. You know. To cheer you up."

He didn't move and I was beginning to grow frustrated, but I stifled the feeling down, knowing that my feelings towards the situation didn't matter as much as his. He was hurting more than me, after all, and this was all new to him. _I can deal with it. I can be strong for him and I'll do what it takes to keep him happy._ I left the room and just as I closed the door, I leaned my back against it for a moment.

"I meant what I said back then, L. I _do_ love you."

_So please. Go back to being that confident, crazy detective I used to know._


	28. Chapter 27

**Here's the next chapter guys! Thanks to all of those who reviewed the last one and I hope Mello and Near weren't too out of character or anything. I did my best. ^^ Although, i think this chapter is a bit filler-ish, but hopefully you guys enjoy it nonetheless.**

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><p>It had been a few months and Christmas and New Year had already flown by, hardly noticed by me since I had spent those months trying to get L out of his depression rather unsuccessfully. What's worse, I had received some information from some acquaintances back in Japan that Wedy had died from a motorcycle accident. It was rather upsetting for me and I spent that night outside sleeping up against a tree, but the next morning, I was back to my regular self to try and help L. It hurt, but he was more important.<p>

However, that was January and we were already moving into March by the time I began to notice that L was making no changes. I was lucky to have him eating as much as I did. Sure, it was only a few cakes a week, but it was better than nothing and as much as I worried about him, I knew that phase two of the plan needed to be set into motion and I couldn't do it if I stayed behind to take care of L, even though my heart was telling me to. I needed to let Near know what was going on and Mello and Matt as well. I hadn't just spent these months doing nothing, and I already knew where he was at and who he was with. _Shouldn't be too hard. Although, I should've expected he'd go somewhere like that. Let's just hope I'm not too out of practice that I get caught sneaking in._

I sighed quietly to myself, packing the last of my things into a black backpack and slinging the thing over my shoulder. The instant my door was closed though, I glanced at L's door, feeling that guilt growing inside me. I still hadn't told him about Watari and I silently vowed to tell him once I got back. _I should at least let him know that I'm going…even if I don't know whether he's listening or not._ I pushed his door open and walked up behind him to look out the window as well.

"I'm going to start the second phase of the plan, L, so I'll be leaving to get into contact with Mello and Matt."

He didn't even look my way anymore, just kept his gaze out the window day and night.

"L, I-" I choked up. _I'll miss you. Get better soon…I love you._ "I'm going. Please at least _try_ to keep eating while I'm gone."

I reached a hand out, but hesitated as it hovered over his. Reluctantly, I pulled it back and went to leave, just barely hearing a quiet voice behind me.

"Be safe."

I smiled a bit, those being the first words he's said in months and nodded. "Alright…but no promises."

Once I had left his room, I made my way over to Near's and just walked in with a grin. "What's up, Near? Have any good puzzles to solve lately?"

I noticed his shoulders tense the moment he heard my voice and mentally cooed. _Aw, he missed me~_ He didn't turn around though, keeping up his indifferent persona, and I went over to his side to find a puzzle with a fox on it, making me smile once more.

"Oh, looks like you did! Good to know you missed me, kid, but you know it's okay to actually…Oh, I don't know…_show_ that you're relieved?"

Suddenly, the little white ball of fluff had his arms wrapped around my leg and I chuckled, patting his head as he quickly let go.

"Don't tell anyone." He muttered, going back to his puzzle.

"Sure thing, but I just wanted to fill you in on a few things. Here." I handed him a flash drive and he took it, curling his hair around his finger in what I assumed was curiosity. "It's not much, but it might help you get started on the whole Kira thing. I also wanted to let you know that I'll be acting as a mediator between you and Mello."

"I see. You're leaving then?"

I chuckled a bit, rubbing the back of my neck. "Yeah, sorry about that, having just showed up like this and all."

"Does this mean L's alive?"

I hummed, debating on whether or not to tell him the truth. "I guess you could say that. He's just, uh…in danger of being killed by Kira and-although he'll be helping solve the Kira case with you guys-he's in a bit of a…depression right now what with what happened to Watari and all."

Near nodded, pocketing the flash drive, jumping to a different topic. "'Mediator' how?"

"I was planning on giving him a copy of what I gave you and then staying with him for maybe a month before returning here. I'll just be passing information back and forth."

Near gave me a glance. "Are you going to tell Mello?"

I raised a brow. "Well, yeah. He wouldn't exactly be happy if I didn't. Besides, we're all on the same team, right? Hiding information from one another is just stupid."

I swear I saw the hint of a smile on his face, before it disappeared. "You're a very interesting person, Kitsu."

I nodded. "Yup! I get called that a lot, along with a bunch of other names that a kid like you shouldn't hear."

I chuckled as he twirled his hair, before heading towards his door with a wave. "Well, I'll see you in a month then! Oh! And I give you permission to bother Ryuzaki if you see him around. If you see him, makes sure he eats something, even if it's just a piece of cake."

He nodded, waving over his shoulder and I headed out, hopping in a taxi and heading to the airport for my trip to America. The whole ride, I couldn't sit still and kept bouncing my leg up and down or tapping my fingers on the armrest, and once I touched down, I went to a dealership where my new motorcycle was waiting for me. And while it was not the same as my old Hayabusa, the silver Kawasaki Ninja was still a great bike.

Once I reached my destination, I groaned at the sight of the tall skyscraper that Mello had situated himself in. _And with the mafia too. _Man_, that's going to be a long climb. Or~_ I smirked upon seeing a chef coming out the side door to empty the trash and aimed my bike towards the alleyway. The moment I was right in front of the guy was a moment too late and I lifted the front end up off the ground, pressing hard on the break so as to not actually hit the guy. Just as I planned, the man took one look and fainted, making me laugh as I shut the bike off, hid it, and stripped the man of his clothes and putting them on over my own. The next part was the easy bit.

Being a trash boy, I hardly went noticed-especially since my hair had gone back to it's natural shade of brown these past few months and I hadn't bothered to dye it. Once I had snuck my way out of the kitchen with a rolling tray of wine and booze, I changed clothes with a bus boy and got in the employee elevator and checked my phone. _Okay, top floor, suite. Rich guys. Great. That means they'll be hard to get past. Sounds like fun._ I smirked and as the elevator left me off on the top floor, I went to the only door there, which was being guarded by a couple of body guards.

I looked up at the men, playing the scared, cowardly bus boy and once they caught sight of the booze, they let me in. It was a nice place, I must admit. I had dealt with rich mafia before, but these guys were obviously high class and liked it that way. There were zebra striped couches and a glass table covered in junk food as well as various other expensive items lying about, but I barely hid my smirk upon seeing Mello sitting on the back of one of the couches with a chocolate bar in one of his black leather gloved hands. The man next to him, who was shirtless with a girl attached to his hip, was most likely the head boss. Or, as everyone else knew him as, Rod Ross.

_Hm, I think I've done something for him once before, but if I'm wrong, it could be dangerous._

"Hey, get moving!" The man behind me shouted, going to shove me, but I easily sidestepped him, allowing him to stumble forward and fall on his face.

"Whoops~" I smirked, dropping the act. _Guess I'll take my chances then._

"Why you- Argh!" The man launched himself at me and I sighed, before ducking low and throwing him over my shoulder into yet another table.

I winced. "Ouch. That looked expensive."

Suddenly, guns were aimed my way and I sighed, holding my hands up in surrender.

"Who the hell are you?" Rod Ross asked, looking pretty calm despite the fact that one of his guys was thrown across the room.

I hummed, tilting my head to the side. "I still don't remember if I worked for you at one point or not."

The man narrowed his eyes, but nodded towards me and one of his men punched me harshly in the stomach, causing me to double over before they grabbed my shoulders to hold me up.

"Urgh, that's not very nice." I muttered, spitting some blood off to the side.

"I asked you a question. Who are you?"

"Well, I've gone by many names, but I think the one you might recognize is Kitsu; The Red Fox of Kanto."

Rod Ross's eyes widened and he lowered his gun, waving his men away with a sweep of his hand as Mello's mouth dropped open in shock. I grunted as I stood upright, rubbing the area on my stomach where there'd certainly be a bruise later.

"Kitsu?" Mello half-whispered. "You're alive?"

I winked playfully at him. "All part of the plan."

The Rod Ross gestured to the couch next to the one he was on, and I gratefully took a seat.

"It's been a while, Fox. Apologies for the rude welcome. I wasn't expecting you."

I waved it off with a small wince. "No problem. Partially my fault for sneaking up on you like that. You probably didn't recognize me." I suddenly pouted, playing with my bangs. "It's the hair, isn't it?"

He laughed heartedly. "Of course not! Although you _do_ normally have a brighter color."

I shrugged. "Haven't had a chance to dye it. Wouldn't happen to have any dye on you, would you?"

He laughed harder. "Me? Have you seen my hair?"

I chuckled as well since he had absolutely no hair at all and asking him for hair dye is just stupid.

"So what are you here for?" He finally asked, getting to the point as Mello continued to sit next to him silently, looking as though he was angry with me.

"Nothing much. I'm here to check up with blondie really." I said, gesturing to Mello. "Maybe help you guys out a bit too with whatever you're up to, should you be interested. Although I would also like to hang around for a while. Maybe a month or so. That okay with you?"

He nodded, wrapping his arm around the woman beside him. "Of course. It's hard to forget what you did for me back during the raids. I'll tell the boys."

I nodded my thanks and got up, nodding towards the kitchen for Mello to follow me. Once he did and the door was shut, Mello began shouting.

"How are you alive?! What the hell?!"

I put my pinky in my ear and wiggled it around a bit. "Damn, Mello. Can you _get_ any louder?"

He grabbed my shirt collar, still having to look up at me, and yelled, "What the hell's your problem, disappearing like that?!"

I decided that messing with him a little would be interesting and I smiled. "Aw, you missed me too?~"

He flushed a bright pink and let me go, turning away. "The hell I did." He muttered.

I chuckled as he grumbled to himself, nibbling on the edge of his chocolate bar.

"You hear from Matt? I've yet to find him. My hacking skills aren't _that_ good."

He nodded. "Yeah. I keep in touch with him when I need to. Now what did you mean by 'according to plan'?" He turned towards me, still upset about my disappearance, but not as much.

"Well, I managed to come up with a plan and saved L, Ryuzaki, and I before Kira could get to us." I said, sneaking Ryuzaki in there since it would be odd if I didn't. "And that was only phase one so now I've started phase two, which you, Matt, and Near are a part of."

He frowned, snapping a piece of chocolate. "I'm not going to work with Near."

I sighed. "Well, why not? The three of you did great back in Japan. Helped me catch onto Kira and come up with a plan with that information you guys found. So why can't you do it again? It's not like he isn't willing to."

"You don't understand." Mello said quietly, aggressively snapping off another bit of chocolate as I began searching through the kitchen cabinets for something sweet. "I hate him."

I rolled my eyes. "No you don't. I know hatred and that's not what you're feeling."

"How the fuck would you know?!" He shouted, getting angry once more. "I hate him!"

I turned to him with a stern expression. "Then kill him."

Mello's eyes widened. "W-What?"

"Kill him. You hate him, right? That's what it means to hate, Mello. It means that you'll do anything to see him dead. That you'll be willing to kill him with your own two hands. To watch the life fade from his eyes as you strangle him, or the blood flow freely from his body after you shot him. You don't hate Near, Mello." I turned away, grabbing a container of coffee, wrinkling my nose in disgust, and throwing it over my shoulder. "I may not know feelings very well, but hatred is something I excel in."

Behind me, Mello was silent for a moment before he spoke. "Do you hate someone, Kitsu?"

"Yeah. Killed two of them…" I frowned. "The other is Kira and the way I see it; you, Matt, Near, L, Ryuzaki, and I are all on the same team. We're all trying to make sure he gets punished for what he's done or tried to do, in my case." I sighed, leaning against the kitchen counter. "So what I guess I'm say is, whether you help us all or not, I'll still be sending information between you, Near, and L. We'll all be working together to take Kira down, but it'll be easier on me if you guys actually managed to work together without chewing each other's head off."

Mello chewed that over a bit, along with his chocolate bar, and I went through the fridge, smirking as I found a small carton of strawberry milk in the back and pulled it out, only to pout when I found that it was expired. _Why is there never any good strawberry milk around?!_ I threw out the carton and instead stole a chocolate bar from one of the cupboards to satisfy my cravings.

"I still won't do it."

I frowned, snapping off my own piece of chocolate rather harshly. "Why not? And it better be a damn good reason. I came all the way from Whammy's and have had no sleep, so I don't want to hear some half-assed excuse."

"I'm not going to be second best anymore."

_Ah, so that's what it was. _I sighed. "Look, kid. Think of it this way, if we all manage to get rid of Kira without dying, then we're _all_ the best. Besides, maybe, if you just ask Near, he'll let you have the credit. He's not that bad of a guy, you know, and I actually think he likes you a bit. If either of you are anything like L, then he'll give up his credit and you'll learn that not everything is about what place you are in some stupid line up."

He snapped off a piece of chocolate once more, but eventually, gave in. "Fine. But I'm staying here and coming up with my own plan to catch Kira.

I smiled with a shrug. "Hey, it doesn't matter _who_ catches him, as long as it happens."

Mello 'humph'ed and we both left the kitchen to enjoy the rest of the night. _Just wish you were here to see this, L. I feel like I've done the impossible, but it doesn't feel nearly as good as I thought it would. Damn, I miss you._


	29. Chapter 28

**Haha, look I updated again~ I've been on a roll as far as this fanfic goes and, although this gets a bit angsty at the end, I promise you people I _WILL _update this again maybe tomorrow or Saturday ^^ I can't leave you guys with a cliffhanger like that. Thanks to all my reviewers! I'll definitely get L out of his depression soon ;)**

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><p>The month of March passed by a bit more slowly than I wished. I had gotten into contact with Matt and informed him of the plan as well as secretly promising to give him my motorcycle once I left, as an apology for making him deal with Mello by himself while I was gone. I wasn't planning on leaving the two of them until mid April, but things began to get a bit more tense as I learned that Aiber had died of cancer in France. With his and Wedy's death as well as the stress of the finding information on Light and the old task force and the rest of the plan, I could feel my anger fuse shortening day by day. Not even the extensive workouts I did in the gym at the mafia building eased the levels of accumulating stress and I finally decided that I should head back to Wammy's, if only to check up on L and Near's progress.<p>

The moment I'd gotten on the plane though, I received news that, not only had all the Yostuba members been killed, but the fake L was telling the media that it was the work of Kira; of which I had no doubt. I immediately assumed that Light has enough hacking skills to get some of the information from Watari's equipment that was left at headquarters and was pretending to be L, but that only made me angrier. _That rotten little-You're no where _near_ being as good as L, Kira._ _And you just killed my pay check! You're gonna pay for that!_ _I make sure to boil you in hot oil and castrate your ass!_

_**(Meanwhile in the task force's headquarters, Light shivered, looking around for the source, causing Matsuda to give him a concerned look. **_

"_**You okay, Light?"**_

_**Light nodded slowly. "Yeah. I just suddenly felt like I should be worried about my future children."**_

_**Matsuda gave him an odd look, but the subject was dropped.)**_

Needless to say, I was not in the best of moods when I arrived at Wammy's and when I had reached L's room, I was at an all time low, knowing that today was the day I needed to tell him about Watari. I swallowed thickly and opened the door to find him in his usual place by the window, looking as though he hadn't moved since I left, but I spotted an empty plate on the small desk beside him, which eased my thoughts a bit.

"I'm back, L…Can I, uh, talk to you for a moment?"

Surprisingly enough, he turned away from the window and faced me, although I could still see that hint of deep sadness in his eyes, which only made what I was about to say, worse.

"L, I…" _Just say it!_ I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, before opening them and just coming out with it. "I knew Watari was going to die."

I watched him, frightened about what he was going to say and the knots in my stomach tightened when I saw his mouth twitch down at the corners.

"You…knew."

I nodded slowly, bowing my head in shame. "When I came up with this plan, I…I spoke to Rem, the shinigami, in order to make sure she wouldn't alert Light that we were alive when we faked our deaths. But I didn't do anything about Watari. I probably _could_ have saved him along with us, but I didn't because I was trying to keep us both alive." I couldn't look up at him as I went on. "I-I was being selfish and didn't bother trying to save him when I could a-and seeing how much his death hurt you I just couldn't bring myself to tell you until now because I thought you'd…hate me."

The silence in the room felt suffocating and I could feel L's stare burning into me as I stood there with my head bowed. I felt like such a child, waiting to be scolded for what I had done but at the same time, I felt so much fear that I wasn't sure what to do. I had never been this afraid of anything other that the thought of L dying and this emotion was still very new to me, so when he didn't say anything, it took all my courage to look up and face him.

"…L?"

I soon wished I hadn't because, although he was blank faced, his eyes showed just how upset with me he was. I swallowed thickly at the hint of hatred that laced his gaze and shrunk back again despite that little voice in the back of my head telling me that this isn't Kitsu and this isn't what she would be doing.

"You didn't try to save him." He said, more than asked, and I slowly nodded.

"I-I'm sorry."

He stared back at me with the slightest of frowns on his face. "An apology will not fix this kind of mistake, Kitsu."

I cringed, but stood my ground now. "I'm really sorry, L. There was just so much I had to deal with a-and you were the top priority."

He frowned now. "Top priority? So compared to yourself and I, his life wasn't worth trying to save?"

"T-That's not it! I know I should've tried, but there wasn't any ti-"

"Not enough time? I highly doubt that." L said, standing from his chair with his hands buried in his pockets. "You had time enough to look up information for Matsuda weeks in advance. It appears Watari's life simply was not that important to you."

"He was!" I half-shouted back. "He was just as important to me as you were! You're not the only one upset about his death, L!"

He didn't move at all and I could feel my emotions bubbling just under the surface. Anger at Light and this whole situation. Guilt for keeping everything hidden for so long and for not trying to save Watari. But most of all, a deep, aching sadness for all the people I knew who have died at Kira's hands and for the fact that L didn't understand; that he was giving me that look of hatred; that he didn't know how hard I was trying for him; and that he had no idea just much I cared for him.

"Yet you continue to act as thought his death never happened." He finally said, sending me into a rage.

"You think I didn't care?! I've been trying to be strong for _you_ these past few months! You're not the only one who had someone die in this, L! Hell, I bet you didn't even know that Wedy and Aiber died!" His eyes slightly widened at that, but I hardly noticed and kept going. "I know what it's like to lose someone close, L! Everyone around me seems to do that! My mother! Natsu! Wedy! Aiber! Watari! But you still think I don't know what it's like?! Maybe you're right! Maybe I didn't feel anything! I've been through that pain so many times that I just can't feel anything any more!" I chuckled bitterly, my grin crooked as tears began to fall for the first time in years. "I'm a monster. Just like my father said."

L reached out toward me, but I flinched and stepped back, lowering my head. "I'm sorry, L. I'm sorry I'm such a hateful, selfish monster who can't even save the life of one man and…I'm sorry for loving you when all I do is cause you to feel more pain."

"Kitsu…"

I bit my lip harshly, my mind and body so numb that I didn't even feel when I broke skin, before I left L standing there, slamming his door behind me as I grabbed my backpack and ran from Wammy's. The angry shouting of my father and other voices yelling in my head. _**Monster! You'll never amount to anything! That's all you are! Trash! You should've died back then! Demon! You don't deserve anyone! Go die! **_Then Kira-No. Light's voice began cackling, drowning out all the other voices. _**Ahahahahaha! I told you, didn't I? You get close to others and they die! You can't beat me! **__Shut up! Please! I-I'm sorry…_


	30. Chapter 29

**Sorry I'm a day late on this! My mom told me the day I was going to write it that we had a family reunion so I wasn't even home. Enough of my problems though, here's the next chapter! I hope L isn't too OOC, but everyone's got to change sooner or later and that's basically what this whole chapter is about ^^ but don't let me spoil it. please read and review~**

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><p>The moment L realized what he may have done, he hurried out after Kitsu. He wasn't used to such extensive exercise and was huffing and puffing before he even made it out to the grounds. When he caught sight of Kitsu, he was surprised to find that she wasn't leaving the grounds, per say. He only had a glimpse of her, but she was heading into the forest on the edge of Wammy's property.<p>

Not having anytime to rest, for fear she would get too far away, L began running once more. _Those things I said to her…I shouldn't have done that. She's been trying her best and I have only been sitting around since Watari's death. We are both the ones at fault for this._ L finally couldn't run anymore and stopped in a small clearing, searching around for some sign that Kitsu was there. _There's only a 37% chance she's still in this area and only a 5% chance that she's willing to converse with me. However, I need to take any chance I have._

"Kitsu!" L called out, looking around to try and find where she may be hiding if she were still there. "Kitsu! I…I apologize. I should not have blamed you for what happened. It was foolish of me and…I should not have done nothing while you were doing your best to come up with a plan to stop Kira."

"You were mourning." A quiet voice called out from L's left.

L looked over in that direction, eyes spotting the corner of Kitsu's elbow sticking out from behind one of the trees. "Yes, however, I fear I've been mourning for much longer than necessary."

"Please." Kitsu scoffed. "I've been mourning my mother's death for _years_. A few months is nothing."

L shook his head, slowly making his way over towards her. "While that may be true, it is no excuse for forcing you to carry this burden on your own. Kira is just as much your problem as mine and I should have contributed more than I have been. With the other plan as well. You should not have been the only person trying to save our lives."

L was closer now and could see the side of her face as she gazed down sadly. "His death is still my fault. Watari shouldn't have died. Not when I could've saved him."

As L came over to the tree, he reached out and brushed the tear that had just fallen down Kitsu's cheek, somewhat pleased that she wasn't angry with him anymore as she leaned into his touch.

"It's not your fault, Kitsu. Kira is the one who killed him and, although you didn't do anything to save him, I did nothing as well. So, in a way, we are both at fault."

Kitsu chuckled a bit, using her own hand to wipe the tears from her face. "Heheh, you have a weird way of making me feel better, L. I don't get you sometimes."

L smiled a bit as Kitsu came out from behind the tree to face him. "I am forgiven then?"

Kitsu nodded. "Yeah….Yeah, I guess so."

"In that case, I would like to ask something of you."

Kitsu rose a brow, confused. "Huh?"

"Did you mean it?"

She grew even more confused and mentally, L chuckled at the strange faces she was making as she struggled to figure out what he was talking about. Once she _did_ though, L couldn't help but smile a bit as her face grew a bright red color.

"I-I, uh…Y-Yeah."

"That's good."

"Good? What do you-"

L didn't give her a chance to finish what she was saying before he pressed his lips to hers. Unlike their first kiss, back when Kitsu was going out to confront Higuchi, L wasn't doing it out of fear for her life. He was doing it because he knew that he cared for her in a way that he hadn't thought was possible for him after spending nearly all of his life with only Watari for company. L was known for being emotionless, but deep down, he felt that this was something he had been looking for. He was looking for someone who could complete him and, as Kitsu began to respond to the kiss, he knew that he was right. _For you, Watari…and for myself…I will learn to care for someone._

I could hardly believe it. L was kissing me again! This time though, it actually felt _nice_, and I responded to the kiss, pressing myself closer. I know, Kitsu wouldn't be saying something like that! She'd probably shove him away and ask what his problem was, but you know what? I've changed. _We've_ changed. L's not the same person he was back when I first met him. He's not some emotionless robot who gets upset whenever I eat his cake. Now, he's caring and understanding and even willingly shares his cake with me, if I ask first (he's still not pleased when I just take it). We share ideas and our thoughts, and take our time learning about one another; what makes the other upset, happy, excited. Simple things like that that we never noticed before.

_I,_ especially, was different. I no longer just threw myself into danger and disobeyed orders for the hell of it. Sure, I was still a bit reckless-the break in to meet with Mello proved that-but I knew my limits now and L was the one who helped me learn that. I started to think things through more, before I went and did them and I too learned to care for others more than I used to. I was so distant before, thinking that my getting close to people would only put them in danger, but L understood that. Hell, L was _living_ that! Maybe that's what attracted me to him. Because he's so much like me. Well, heh, _was_ like me. We've both changed and it was a good one. One that I knew would help us bring Kira down and even bring us closer.

As we both pulled away, panting slightly at the lack of oxygen, I couldn't help but grin wildly as I pressed my forehead to his.

"We should head back. I still need to check in with Near."

L hummed, a small smile on his face as well as his thumbs rubbed small circles on my hips. "He can wait."

I laughed, pressing my lips to his, before pulling back not long after, amusing myself when he pouted.

"No can do, L. We've got things to do, remember?"

He sighed and followed behind me like a sad puppy who lost it's favorite toy as we headed back to Wammy's. Things were going to get hectic now, but I was glad I at least had L by my side now to help. _Kira, you better watch your back, because you and I are going to meet sooner or later and when we do, it'll all be over._


	31. Chapter 30

**Heh, hey~ Look! I updated! Though...I probably should've done it sooner...sorry about that. Kistu seems to be one of the harder characters to get back into my head, so writing this chapter was a pain. There's not much going on in it either, though there's some mushiness at the end. but it's done and hopefully the next chapter will have a bit more action now that everything's getting back on the plot. ^^ please review though!**

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><p>Everything between L and I had calmed down after what happened when I confronted him about Watari, and for a while, things had calmed down. I was still traveling between Near and Mello, passing around information, but I could tell Mello was getting anxious and I was beginning to worry about him doing something reckless. Near, however, had begun progressing when I discovered that Light had joined the National Police Agency and had already spoken with the president of the United States, creating the SPK (Secret Provision for Kira) in order to track him down. Thing was, that was months ago, and with no obvious progress being shown to Mello the past few years, I was worried something was going to happen. And that something finally showed itself when I was visiting Near at his SPK headquarters.<p>

"So you sent in someone to contact the director?" I asked as I placed a puzzle piece in it's place, dressed as a ninja in all black with a mask covering most of my face except my eyes.

One could never be too careful with these cops and with Light being Kira, I'd rather he didn't have any way to know I was alive or any way of getting that information. Besides, I had plenty of costumes at my disposal, thanks to L and his infinite amount of money that he seemed to enjoy spending on me, for some reason. _If he keeps it up, I'll have a different one for every day of the year._ I places a had to my chin in thought as my eyes scanned the puzzle pieces, sitting in a crouch similar to L's, whereas Near and one of his men were not too far away listening and watching the screens as one of their men was speaking to someone in the Japanese police headquarters.

"Yes. We sent him in to confirm the existence of the notebook and that they have it."

"Hm…" I hummed, placing another piece down when I heard a bit of commotion coming from the headphones he was wearing. "Something interesting happening?"

Near ignored me, speaking to his man on the other side of his microphone as he made a card tower. "Near here. It seems as if the chief has been kidnapped indeed. So I want you to steer the conversation in the direction of cooperating with them to save him and apprehend the perpetrators."

_What? My father's been…abducted?_ I frowned under my mask. Sure, my father hadn't treated me very well, but he was still my father and there were a few times that I remember when he treated me like every father should. He was still family.

"It's really not an issue whether he hands it over to us or not. They'll have to make preparations to swap it for their chief's life, don't you think? And while they're at it, we'll claim it-should the opportunity present itself, of course." Near said, as I thought.

_Who would take the chief though? It has to do with the death note, obviously, but the only ones who know about that are the task force, the SPK, L, Mello's group and myself. And since the SPK and task force didn't do it…damn it._ I frowned, getting up and catching Near's attention.

"Sorry for the short visit, Near. I need to check up on something."

Near nodded, turning back to his screen and his card tower. "Very well."

Wanting a bit more fun, I managed a smirk and threw a smoke bomb on the ground, pulling a disappearing ninja act and getting outside the building before the smoke disappeared. Once on my bike, I called up a very familiar chocolate loving addict.

"It's Kitsu, give me Mello." I growled out, waiting for the man on the other end to hand the phone over and once he did, I quickly expressed my displeasure. "Oi, what are you thinking, kidnapping the director?! I thought I said to wait!"

Mello groaned on the other end. "You and that white haired bastard were moving too slow."

"We were moving slow for a reason, Mello! If you just left this alone, we might already have the notebook already!"

"Yeah right! You really think they'd just hand it over?!"

I pinched the bridge of my nose, putting on a microphone so I could ride my bike and talk.

"I'm not stupid! Of course they wouldn't, but they would show us where they keep it and it would be a cinch for me to get it after that!"

"Che, well it's too late now. We're already moving in to grab the next one."

"Next one?" I muttered.

Suddenly, the pieces clicked into place as I realized what he was saying.

"Mello, what…what happened to the chief?"

"Killed himself with his necktie thanks to some morons falling asleep."

My hands gripped the bars of my bike tightly, and I could feel panic rising up as what he said began sinking in.

He laughed. "But that means Kira got him! And for Kira to get _him_ means he had to be one of the ones who knew about his abduction! The chances of it being an _actual_ suicide are slim anyway. I mean, he's a real idio-"

"Mello! We already know who Kira is!" I shouted, feeling my chest clench and my vision get blurry as tears slipped over my face. "Light is Kira! All we needed was proof! There was no need to…There was no need to kidnap the chief!"

"Well, it's too late for that now! Why the hell are you yelling at me for?! It's your fault for taking too long! We could've caught Kira already! And besides! I've made sure Kira won't be able to kill this one! There's no _way_ he'll kill his own sister!"

Ice ran through my veins and I quickly shouted at him. "Don't do _shit_ with her until I get there, understood?!"

"Che, whatever." Mello said, hanging up as I sped through the streets, cursing under my breath.

_That idiot! He just-He made my father-_ "God dammit!" I shouted to no one, swerving around a corner as I headed to L and mine's safe house here in the states.

We had to move from Wammy's to here, thanks to Near teaming up with the US. It made traveling between him and Mello far easier, and it kept L nearby as well for when things grew too much. And right now, after what I had just discovered, _everything_ was far too much. As I parked the bike and covered it up, I began my walk around the deserted warehouse looking structure, wiping what tears were left and heading in. The room was large and had a few separated areas for some privacy, but other than that, there was a bed and some chairs and a bunch of monitors and a fridge. That was it. I didn't mind it too much but, as I took off my mask and sat on the edge of the bed, I realized just how empty my life really was.

I had no living family now, no home other than the few places I stayed with L, no true friends, no parents, and I wouldn't even be able to visit my own father's grave until all this Kira stuff was over. I felt like that last lifeline that connected me to my old self was severed and nothing could fix it anymore. Like nothing could piece my life back together, because there was nothing left. I buried my face with my hand, elbow resting on my leg as I grit my teeth, my other arm lying on my knee, hand hanging down limply between my legs. More tears threatened to fall, but I held them back despite the anger, frustration, and sadness that swirled in my stomach and ripped away at my heart.

I had this overwhelming urge to hit something, just tear something to pieces and feel something other than this emotional pain eating me alive. I wanted to punch a brick wall until my hand fell limp and I thought about doing it. About just getting up and leaving to go beat the shit out of something or out of myself, and the more I thought about it, the more pleasing it sounded, until a voice tore me out of my depression.

"Kitsu, is everything alright?"

"Yeah…Everything's great." I muttered, a hand tugging on my earlobe as I stood up. "I just…forgot to do something. Sorry, L."

I headed towards the door, but was stopped by a hand on my wrist.

"You are a very poor liar, Kitsu." L said. "Your posture is tense, your voice is tight, you have only spent a short amount of time with Near, and you still have a habit of tugging on your earlobe when something upsets you." He pulled me back a bit, arms moving around me waist as he pressed his nose to the crook of my neck. "Please, Kitsu…Let me help you."

Tears welled up again and I could feel myself shaking slightly, causing L to tighten his grip as I struggled with what to do. L and I had gotten a bit closer these past couple years, despite everything that's been going on, even going so far as sleeping in the same bed together when the case allowed us to rest. We were going slow, not getting into anything extensive, but things like secrets and our pasts were still touchy subjects. It was hard for me to confide in him, just as it was hard for him to confide in me. There were the few occasions where he told me about himself and Watari or about his time at Wammy's, and I had told him about some of my time on the streets, but neither of us had brought up our parents and with what had just happened, it was understandable why I was hesitating in talking to L about it.

A choked sob escaped my lips, having not been able to hold everything back anymore as the tears finally fell and I brought a hand to my face.

"M-My father, he…he killed himself. Mello took him for the notebook a-and…"

I swiped furiously at the tears, feeling L lead me to the bed and sit me down, sitting beside me and just holding my hand that was fisted in the blankets.

"I don't even know why I'm this upset." I complained. "After mom died, all he ever did was hate me."

"It…is not my area of expertise, but perhaps your family bond is…something that was important to you but you did not notice it until now." L said, surprising me.

"You…"

"Did I say something wrong?" He asked, tilting his head curiously, making me chuckle imagining puppy ears on his head.

"Hehe, n-no. You said everything right."

I tackled L in a hug, knocking him back onto the bed as I dried my eyes on his shirt, his hand running through my hair with a sigh.

"You are far too much…emotion to handle, Kitsu."

"And you are far to smart for me to handle." I said with a grin, looking up at L and kissing him, before getting up and mock saluting. "Yosh! I have a mission to accomplish, Corporal! So I will see you after I have kicked Mello's arse!"

L shook his head with a small chuckle, standing up and stretching, before turning back to his computers.

"Try not to break him. We may still need his help."

"I will do my best, but no promises~" I said with a grin, turning around and heading outside to my motorcycle and getting on my way.

_I'm not quite over my father's death, but perhaps I could put this anger to good use. After all, it's also possible that Kira killed him and made it look like a suicide._ I frowned under my darkened helmet. _Kira, you're going down._


	32. Chapter 31

**here it is, as promised! thank you to those reviewers who told me to hurry my butt up and-i don't have a lot of time right now because classes are starting-i hope to get this updated again within the next week or two. i finally found my groove with this one and should be able to keep going. and if you have any questions about my update schedule for any other fanfics of mine, check out the last chapter of Amber Leaves  for a schedule. and please review!**

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><p>I stomped into the mafia's hideout with a growl, ignoring how all of the members ran for cover or pressed themselves up against the walls as I passed. I hadn't seen head nor tail of Mello and I was already pissed, so I grabbed the nearest lackey and slammed him up against the wall, his collar fisted in my hand and his face visibly scared despite the fact that I was a good half a foot shorter than him.<p>

"Where the fuck is he?"

"M-M-Mello?" He stuttered out.

_Must be new. _"No shit, Sherlock! Now tell me where the fuck he is!"

"H-H-He's in the boss's room! S-Second door on the left a-and all the way down the hall!"

I smirked, letting go of his collar and patting the side of his face. "Good boy."

Leaving him there with a few of his buddies to clean up the puddle of a man I'd made, I stormed down the hall to the boss's office and practically broke down the door to find an open-mouthed Mello with a chocolate bar maybe a few inches from his mouth. Needless to say, he dropped it when I started running towards him in fury.

"Come back here, you ripe piece of shit!" I shouted, vaulting over the boss's desk and around the boss himself as Mello ran for his life.

"What the-What the hell did I do?!"

I tackled him like a professional football player and straddled his waist as I stared down at him with a devilish smirk, cracking my knuckles.

"What did you do? Oh-ho, Mello. You did about the worst thing you could've possibly done."

"W-What?"

I didn't even bother to respond to him before I slammed a solid punch to his face, earning a cry of pain before some of boss's men hurried over and pulled me off.

"I told you to wait! I fuckin' told you!"

Mello stared back at me in shock and a bit of fear as I knocked out one of the guys holding me and nearly punched Mello a second time before the boss headed over and had some more men hold me back as he pet my head in an attempt to calm me.

"Sounds like you've really fucked up, Mello, if you have Kitsu this riled up."

"B-But I didn't do anything! So what if I rushed a bit?! What the hell does that have to do with anything?!"

"Minoru Kitamura!" I shouted, feeling tears threaten to bubble out of my throat. "Do you know who that is?!"

Mello frowned, confused. "Some relative to that police chief, but what-"

"I'm his fucking daughter, you ass!"

That made everyone in the room freeze, suddenly realizing the severity of the situation and the fact that, not only had they kidnapped the chief, but they also played a part in killing the father of the legendary Fox. The guys holding me let me go and I took a deep breath to keep the tears from falling, before walking towards Mello-who had sat up in surprise-and shoved my foot onto his chest, pressing him back against the floor.

"W-Wait! H-How the hell was _I_ supposed to know?! You never told me-"

"That's because you were supposed to _wait_." I hissed, pressing my foot further down as he struggled underneath me. "Now I suggest you fucking do it this time, or I won't be so lenient as to just leave with a single punch."

I lifted my foot and walked off, pulling my phone out of my pocket and dialing Near's number as I headed to the downstairs area where the mafia was most likely keeping Sayu.

"Hey, Near. It's Kitsu. I have some stuff you'll want to know and I think I have a plan, but you have to listen, alright?"

"If the plan is right, I will listen." He replied, making me nod as I called the elevator.

"Okay, the chief was kidnapped by Mello, just to let you know and has since died. He s…strangled himself with his tie." I choked out, trying to keep my voice as level as I could.

"…My condolences."

_He knows…Did L tell him?_ I shook my head, clearing my thoughts as I got in the elevator. "Right…But there's another explanation for what he did besides suicide."

"You think Kira killed him."

I nodded, despite the fact that Near couldn't see me. "Exactly, and if he _did_, then that means he knew about the kidnapping. And that's only possible if he was in the loop, which only gives us a few options."

"Kira's in one of the groups, in particular, the SPR; as we already know."

"Yeah, but we need to gather up evidence against Light to prove he's actually Kira. Enough evidence to get him locked up for a long time."

"You're repeating things I already know." Near said, not to be rude or anything, but to let me know that I was rambling.

I pulled a hand through my hair. "Yeah, sorry. Just trying to get my thoughts in order… What I'm saying is, perhaps we could use Mello's blunder to our advantage."

"How so?"

"Heh, that's where the fun part comes in." I replied, tugging my earlobe as I exited the elevator. "The SPR haven't been informed yet about the chief's killing, but they also don't know that Mello has gone a step further and has taken Sayu, Light's sister captive."

I rounded the corner, facing Sayu, who was tied up and gagged in a chair in the center of the room.

"…Though it's a bit erratic, it may prove useful as you said, for it seems as though Light wouldn't kill his own sister."

"I agree." I said, watching as Sayu tensed. "But there's always that slim chance that says he would if it would keep him from being caught. Every criminal gets desperate."

"Agreed. What do you have in mind?"

"Well~" I chirped. "Since I'm here, I'll be sure to keep that chocolate loving idiot on a slightly tighter leash, but I want everything to move as though nothing happened."

There was a pause on the other line, so I clarified, moving to untie Sayu from the chair and at least give her some range of motion.

"Look, _you_ go about doing this as if you had no idea what choco-lover is up to. Then, I'll keep him going as if I hadn't interfered. All I need you to do, is accept the SPR's plea for help."

"You assume they'll ask for assistance?"

"If only for Light to try and prove that someone on your team is behind the Kira killings, I do believe they will ask for assistance. That, and I'm sure it won't take long for Light to guess that you're working together with choco-head. _And_, if we're lucky, either your group or choco-lover's will get the notebook and we'll be at least one step up."

"Indeed. I will do as you have said, though I expect you will be calling the SPR soon?"

"Sure will. I'll keep a close watch on Sayu and do what I can from this end. Once I get choco-lover to call them with the ransom and inform them about…the chief, things will surely pick up speed. Just make sure you're ready."

"I will. Goodbye, Kitsu."

I smiled a bit. "Talk to ya soon."

Once I'd hung up, I sat cross-legged on the floor and stared at Sayu as she stood up out of the chair and went to bolt for it.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

She froze in place, turning her head in my general direction as I hummed, digging in my pockets and pulling out a box of pocky-stolen from L's stash.

"I _am_ here to help you out a bit, but if you try to escape, I can't really tell you what the mafia folks upstairs would do."

She slumped over, looking defeated and making me groaned quietly.

"Aw, come on now! Don't go getting all depressed! I can't take people who are sad all the time!"

She crumpled to the floor and, judging by the darker stains now forming on her blindfold, she was crying.

I sighed, reaching out and barely being able to brush a finger over the blindfold before he let out a muffled scream and lurched back.

"Hold on! I'm just trying to take the blindfold off, is all! I'm sure you could do with a nice look at who's trying to help you, don't you think? You know, actually see a face and not the masks or whatever the mafia's using."

She was shaking, but didn't pull back this time as I removed her blindfold and gave her a smile.

"See? That's not so bad."

Tears still streamed down her face and I felt pretty bad for her. I mean, she didn't ask to be thrown into all of this, she just was; thanks to her connection to Light. I sighed, leaning back on my palms and looking at her in worry.

"If you want, I'll see about getting you a proper room here and all, but I can't exactly let you just go."

She began to look even more sad, but I brought a hand to my face with a groan.

"Oh _please_ don't cry anymore! I can't take crying people. I know!" I smiled, dropping my hand and pointing at her. "How about this? I'll even untie you and take off your gag, but you have to promise not to do anything like suicide or biting off your tongue, alright?"

She nodded frantically, but I seriously didn't want her dying and I dropped the smile, growing serious as I came closer and took her bound hands in mine.

"Seriously. _Please_ don't. I-I…I can't take someone else dying because of me, okay? The chief he…" I looked down, looking back up again. "H-He is-was-my father. Do you understand? He died here, because I couldn't get here fast enough. And I _promise_ you, I won't let anyone here even _touch_ you or look at you if you can do exactly as I say, okay? I just want to catch Kira, you know? Like your father. And, believe it or not, we're actually good friends, he and I." I smiled a bit, knowing that I was catching her attention with what I was saying and possibly even gaining her trust as well. "I'd probably be working for him right now, if it wasn't for the fact that I'm hiding from Kira. So…can you promise me, that you won't try anything?"

She nodded, slowly this time and looking very serious.

"I want to catch Kira and get you back to your dad without a scratch, so you have to trust me, okay? I'll do anything I can to make this happen."

She nodded again and I began undoing the rope binding her hands just when crazy choco-head himself burst into the room.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?! You can't just let her go!"

Sayu tensed and tears began welling up in her eyes again, but I stood between Mello and her defiantly.

"I'm not letting her go! I'm treating her like a human being and not just some piece of cargo! Now I suggest you listen to me, or I'll make sure to give your little puzzle friend more information than what I'm planning on giving you in a moment."

Mello glared, looking defiant as he pointed towards Sayu and a couple of the mafia guys started heading over.

"Tie her back up and get Kitsu out of here!"

The moment they started heading over, Sayu began scooting back in fear and I gave her a comforting smile from over my shoulder.

"Don't worry. I promised, remember?"

I then turned back around and easily took out the couple of men, dusting off my hands and giving the shocked Mello a smirk.

"Are you going to listen to me yet, idiot? Or should I give you another shiner to match the other one.

He flinched, bringing a hand up to his now black and blue eye, before stomping his foot childishly and glaring at me.

"Fuck it! Fine! She's _your_ responsibility then! But you better give me everything you know!"

I smiled, wiggling my fingers at him in a wave. "Alright~ Then you better make sure there's another bed in my room. She'll stay with me for now."

He clicked his tongue and left, along with the couple of men he brought, and I gave Sayu a big grin and went back to undoing her bonds and eventually her gag.

"Y-You…helped me."

I nodded. "I promised, after all. And I never go back on my promises. Now come on." I helped her up off the ground, her legs a little shaky. "I'll show you where you can stay! You'll be bunking with me, since the other guys here are…well, guys."

I shrugged and pulled her towards the elevator before eventually showing her where she'd be staying and going to grab her some food before telling her I'd have to lock her in to keep the other mafia guys from getting in as well. She seemed upset about that, but she nodded and I knew that after a while, I'd probably have her full trust and would be able to trust her not to try and escape every few minutes.

Finished with that, I went downstairs and explained what I wanted to do with Mello and he, reluctantly, agreed and called up the SPR to make his demands.

"Most likely, they'll be tracing the call, so they'll know we're in the LA area."

"That's fine. They won't be able to narrow it down anyway." Mello scoffed.

"I assumed as much." I said with a role of my eyes. "But make sure you tell them about…the chief."

"Yeah, yeah." He shifted his stance then, and I knew that Mr. Yagami had picked up. "Mr. Vice-Captain…It's about the exchange for the chief. It's off."

I heard a shouting on the other end and sighed quietly, leaning back on the couch I was seated in beside Mello.

"Takimura's dead…But when we say it's off, we mean exchanging the chief for the notebook. We'll exchange it for Sayu Yagami instead."

I could practically _feel_ the suspense on the other line and shivered.

"There's no point in telling the Vice-Captain of the police department not to tell the cops, but we'd like you to act alone. If we see any movement on the side of the police, your daughter's as good as dead. Yes…as acting chief of police it should be simple for you."

_He's so melodramatic…heh…I made a pun there. Mello-dramatic._ I chocked back a chuckle, hiding it as a cough and earning a glare from Mello as he went on.

"We're sending you a picture of Takimura's corpse to your email address right now. Do have a good look. We'll contact you again tomorrow." Mello hung up and frowned, looking over at me. "You happy now?"

I nodded with a grin. "Sure! Ah, by now, I expect that Light is convincing them Kira's not in their group, even though he is. Ah, I better go let L know what's going on."

I yawned, getting up and pulling out my cell, calling L who picked up right away and we got right down to business and I explained the plan yet again to him.

"Very good, Kitsu. I expect that to go over very well so long as Mello doesn't do anything."

"No kidding. I already have to personally care for Sayu and having to keep Mello under control and sticking to the plan will be tough."

"Make sure you sleep, Kitsu. You're already going on the fifth day."

I smiled softly, walking into my room and locking the door behind me. "Yeah, I know. I'll do what I can."

"I…care for you, Kitsu. Please don't go putting yourself at risk in this plan of yours."

"Is that the closest I can get to the 'L' word from you?" I chuckled, falling back onto my bed and looking up at the peach colored ceiling. "'Cause you're going to have to try a little harder than that if you want me coming back to you early."

"…Then perhaps I shall come to you."

"Not quite, buster. The last thing we need is for them to find this place with you in it…." I paused, eyes softening. "I love you, you panda-eyed punk."

I could practically see him sweat dropping on the other end.

"I do believe that the word 'punk' has a negative connotation, yet I do believe you are possibly complimenting me…"

I laughed. "Have I stumped the great detective? Perhaps I'll have taken his number one spot in the ranks."

"Not quite…Goodnight, Kitsu."

"Night." I chirped back, hanging up to find Sayu sitting on the other bed next to mine and staring at me oddly.

"Was that your…boyfriend?"

"Hm…" I put a finger to my chin. "Boyfriend…is not the term I'd use. Too much of a social norm, if you know what I mean."

She frowned. "So a…really good friend?"

"Hm, that's not quite right either…I mean, I guess he's a boyfriend, but without being a quote-on-quote _boyfriend_. You know what I mean?"

She shook her head, confused.

I shrugged. "Eh, whatever. As long as I know what I mean, nothing else matters, I suppose. But yeah, if you want to call him that, then I guess he is my boyfriend."

"O-Oh…do you, um…_work_ for the mafia?"

I shook my head, interlocking my fingers behind it and staring up at the ceiling blankly. "Nah. I'm a…criminal, I guess you could say. Well, sort of…It's kind of like the boyfriend thing. I _do_ crimes sometimes-like stealing, or breaking in, trespassing or whatnot-but I don't do anything crazy like kill people. Well…unless it's absolutely necessary, but I'm more of the…kill them with other things kind of person. So, ruining their financial backing or blackmail."

"So…you're a small time criminal?"

I laughed. "Ahaha! No way! I'm super big, probably a top notch criminal, if you wanted to go that far. That's how I know these guys." I sat up, holding a finger up in the air with a smirk. "I have connections, you see? And connections in the underworld can be some powerful things. You never know when being pals with someone like a mob boss could come in handy. That, though, comes along with a lot of enemies."

I flopped back down as Sayu thought that over.

"Then you're a small time criminal with big connections?"

I held up a thumbs up. "You got it. Like, technically, if I wanted to, I could have you out of here and on your way back home right now."

Her eyes widened. "T-Then why don't you?! Why haven't you?!"

"Patience, young grasshopper." I hummed, turning to smile at her. "You're a very important piece to the puzzle, believe it or not. With you hanging around for just a little while longer, I am _this_ much closer to taking Kira down."

"B-But…you said you'd help me."

"And I will. However, put yourself in my position. If _you_ found out at that all you needed to take down a mass murderer with the power of the devil himself was one person, would you not want to hang onto that one source? Even if it was just for a few days or a few hours?"

She bowed her head, picking at some nail-polish that had been chipping off her fingers. "I-I suppose so."

I sat up with a sigh, already feeling her sorrow seeping through and permeating the surrounding air. "Look, if I had the choice, you'd be back home right now. But I don't. Kira's the bigger threat here and…as much as I want to get you back home-and _believe_ me, I want to-I can't risk the lives of myself, my…_boyfriend_, if you will, and everyone one else in the world being put on the line. So I'm doing the next best thing. I'm protecting you and helping you, and making sure that you'll be safe so that nothing bad comes your way, aright? I'll risk my _life_, if it means getting you home safe, okay?"

She nodded. "O-Okay…but, um…can I at least know your name?"

I winced, giving her a nervous smile. "And there lies the problem. I _could_ give you my name, but that would bring up a lot of…compromising situations. Mostly the fact that Kira thinks I'm dead and I'd like to keep it that way, if I could. The only way to escape death is to die, after all."

"T-That makes sense…" She muttered, still looking pretty upset.

_And in this kind of situation, I can see why._ "If you want though, you can call me fox. It's what I'm known as in the underworld anyway." I smiled, and she nodded, giving me a small smile back before the two of us got comfortable and drifted off into a light sleep. Sayu cried in her sleep, I noticed, but I did nothing and simply let out a deep breath and went back into my own inky darkness. _Don't worry, Sayu. If anyone can protect you, it's me. And if anyone can protect me…it's L, Mello, Matt, and Near. The four geniuses._


	33. Author's Note! Very Very Important

I'm super sorry to say this, but it's going to be a long while longer before i update anything again. I accidentally spilled milk on my laptop yesterday and it will no longer work, so until i get it fixed or get a new one (and all of my work will need to be transferred over), I will be unable to do much. It's very frustrating because i was typing up a new amber leaves and other things too. I will try to retype up the amber leaves chapter and get it up, but it will take a while since i'm sharing a computer now with three other siblings. i will do what i can though. and i'm very sorry for the delay and my clumsiness. :(


	34. Milk Spill Update!

Whoo! You guys and girls are soooooooo lucky! My computer decided that the milk spill wasn't that bad and turn on yesterday. However, the keyboard was messed up and if i pushed one key like "a" i'd get four other buttons "asdw". ...weird. but today i turned it on and the keyboard magically fixed itself! :D The keys are still sticky and the whole thing smells like spoiled milk, but i will do my best to get the keyboard cleaned up and i should be back in working order to post some more stuff ^^ So look forward to it! You guys are the greatest!


	35. Chapter 32

**Oh, you guys are lucky, lucky! My laptop is all better now and i got totally carried away with writing up a new chapter for this. So much so, that i wrote two! That's right, folks! You get a double update!~ :D I hope you like them both (this one's a little dull but the next one has lots of action) and please review!**

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><p>Four o' clock came around and I was awoken so that Mello could make the next call to inform the SPR of the meeting place for the transferring of Sayu for the notebook. Mr. Yagami was very insistent about hearing Sayu, but we managed to come up with an agreement and I somehow convinced Sayu to be tied up for a photo to be sent to her father. She wasn't too pleased about that, but I didn't have time to really comfort her because I had a lot of work to do. For one thing, Near called, asking if it was alright if he were to rile Kira up a bit by letting him know that he was L's successor. I told him it should be fine, but to expect some sort of backlash since Light probably wasn't one to take things like that lightly. So, basically, I told him to do whatever he wants as long as he understood the consequences and could handle them.<p>

Once that was taken care of, I was put in charge of helping Mello deal with the transfer of Sayu for the notebook. It was tough. We had to think things through thoroughly and I spent most of the morning communicating with L, Mello, Matt, and Near over what we believed Light would do and what he would ask Near for-as far as help goes-in order to plan accordingly. I, for one, didn't care too much about the number of people who were probably going to get killed in all this, but I knew there was nothing I could really do about it since it was up to the mob boss as to who he felt was dispensable. It was the cold, hard reality of the criminal world. One I hadn't seen in a long while.

Thankfully though, we all came to an agreement as to what we were going to do and not even Light would be clever enough to figure out this plan. Not when we had the best minds around coming up with it. The plan was complicated and would definitely have me worrying in some spots, but I knew it was going to work and decided to leave the work to Mello and Near to spend some time with L. That was, of course, _after_ I escorted Sayu to the underground bunker and explained what she was going to have to understand and how things were going to work out. I had to admit though, she was pretty tough about all of this and took the information very well. I had to make a point however, that she was not to give anyone, not even her father-or worst of all, Light- any information about me. She could mention that someone helped her, but nothing as far as appearance or voice or any other descriptions that could cost me my cover. She had to understand that I would die if she told any of them anything and, after a very serious discussion with her, she agreed and we went our separate ways.

I sighed loudly, stretching my arms over my head. "Man, I feel so old! Coming up with crazy plans with missiles and airplanes and notebooks of death…L~ Do I have old lady bags under my eyes?"

I tugged down my eyelids as I walked towards L, who spun around in his chair with a confused tilt of his head.

"I do not know what these 'old lady bags' look like, however, you do have dark circles from your lack of sleep. You only got a few hours yesterday, yes?"

I pouted, flopping down face-first onto the couch and grumbling into the cushion. "Mmhm."

"You know any words you try to converse with me through the sofa cushion will not be comprehensible, Kitsu."

I lifted my head. "I'm gonna melt into a giant puddle of stress, L! Only three hours of sleep and no decent food other than freakin' chocolate! Next thing you know, something will go wrong with the plan just because I left!"

Then, like I had somehow cursed any luck I had, my phone rang. Groaning, I flipped over on the couch and answered it.

"Whaaaaat?"

"Kitsu, this is Near."

"What do you want?" I pouted, my voice turning whiny and childish. "I just got time to relax here. Don't tell me that plan got screwed up somehow."

"If you are speaking about the plan to get the notebook to Mello, then no. However, there is another situation that has arisen."

"What did that jackass do now?" I frowned.

"…Language."

"You can scold me about language when I've eaten and gotten more than three hours of sleep, mister. Now answer the question."

Near sighed, sounding either annoyed or tired, or both. "It appears that he has used the notebook and killed four of my assistants. Though I do believe one of them was a spy helping Mello anyway."

"Ugh, that idiot! I _just_ left!" I complained, but I felt that there was something more. Something that Near wasn't telling me. And that made me sit up on the couch, face serious. "Near, what did you do?"

"I should have known it would not be easy to hide something from you, Kitsu…" He said and I could only frown further.

"Near."

"…I was on the phone with Light at the time. I was telling him I would find Mello on my own, but he was insistent for cooperation. With my people killed however, I had no choice but to accept for fear that he would discover that the five of us are cooperating together."

"What kind of cooperation?" I asked, not liking the sound of this.

"We exchanged information. He gave me what he knew about the notebook and I gave him some information on Mello. However, the information we received from him is lacking in the areas that you told us about."

I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Of course it is. He wouldn't give up valuable evidence of how to use the notebook if he knew that Mello had it. He's probably playing dumb or something. But Near, he could find out who you are too, you know. This is a really big risk."

"…Yes, Kitsu. I know."

_He sounds so…resigned._ I sighed, standing up and pacing as I tugged on my earlobe. "Look, don't resign yourself just yet. You guys have aliases for a reason, so there's nothing he can do as Kira that can kill you. That _doesn't_ mean he won't be able to do physical harm if he meets you in person, so do try to avoid that at all costs. Is it possible that he knows what you and Mello look like?"

"Very plausible. Rodger wouldn't hide anything and if Linda drew our portraits at some point, then they would know."

"Linda, I'm guessing is one of the orphanage kids?"

"Correct."

"Well." I sighed again. "There's not much I can do about it now that it's already happened. So I'll trust you to make some good judgments on it. In the meantime, I'll call up Mello and try to get him to watch his back."

"Then I will let Light continue to believe that Mello and myself consider him as incompetent to a degree. However, there is no point in hiding who I am should he guess correctly."

"That's fine, I guess. Can't leave Light completely in the dark or he'll get suspicious." I joked, trying to ease my own tenseness.

"I will inform you should anything of importance happen, Kitsu. I wish you luck."

"Yeah. I'll need all I can get." I muttered, hanging up and tossing myself back on the couch with an arm over my eyes. "Everything just has to get worse, doesn't it? My flight here being delayed a whole day, the trading of information with Light, Mello messing things up again. What does the world have against me?"

"I do not believe the world is capable of such things, Kitsu." L said, coming over towards me and holding out his hand, which I took to get up off the couch, only to hug him; still whining.

"But L! Why does Mello have to be such a butt? E should know by now that there's no point in trying to one-up Near if we're all working together. Can't he do this when there aren't lives at stake?" I complained, L wrapping his arms around me as well, lying his chin on my shoulder lazily.

"Mello is very…prideful and impatient. You should have expected him to do something the moment you returned here."

I stuck my lips out in a pout, pulling away from L slightly. "Still. You'd think he'd learn after I punched him."

L gave me a small smirk of amusement in knowing that I had punched Mello, before he kissed me briefly and moved back to his computer. "It might be better to consider what he is up to next, Kitsu, though you punishing him again sounds pleasant."

I snickered at that, pulling up my own spinning chair beside him. "Okay, help me out then. What will Mello do? Other than the obvious getting back at Near.

"There is no doubt, that he will know Near is giving Light information on him. So you are correct in thinking that he will continue to attack Near in some fashion. Most likely, I believe he will find a way to keep tabs on Near."

I nodded, pushing off L's chair and spinning as I looked up at the ceiling. "Alright. So a weak link in Near's group. Mello's already killed off most of his team, so I guess the next bet is-"

"The U.S. President." L finished for me. "Mello will probably blackmail him somehow into giving him supplies and information."

I groaned. "No doubt Mr. President is going to just sit around after being threatened. Mello probably used the notebook to his advantage there, so the President will no doubt be asking about ways to avoid dying." I turned to L, chair slowing to a stop. "Near probably stayed cautious and gave him nothing, which means that Light knows about the President being threatened. _If_ our theory is correct."

L passed me a strawberry off of his cake, and I gladly took it as he spoke. "Correct. And I have no doubt Light will use this situation to his advantage."

I frowned then, suddenly worried. "Wait a minute, we know Light's Kira, but what about Misa? Is she still around as the second Kira? The one who can find out people's names with just a face?"

L frowned as well. "I…do not know. There is a high probability that she is still with Light, so we should expect as much."

"Let's just hope Mello's smart enough to keep his face out of any databases." I grumbled. "He better move away from those mafia guys too. No doubt that he'll get connected to them sooner or later."

I got up then, ruffling L's hair and making him pout as I picked up my phone, knowing that I had to warn Mello now, or we were going to have a rather large situation on our hands.


	36. Chapter 33

**Like i said, more action-y than the last one and i hope you enjoy it ^^ hopefully no one's out of character or anything. please review too! i love to hear from you guys!**

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><p>"What?!" I shouted into the phone, hardly believing what I was hearing.<p>

"I _said_, I have a plan and it's working out great!" Mello said, practically smirking over the phone. "Some shinigami thing showed up and we've been using it to get the names of the guys who are trying to bust into the hideout."

I smacked a hand to my face and groaned, grabbing my jacket and pulling it on as I gave L a quick goodbye and hurried out onto my bike.

"Look, I know you think this is the greatest thing ever, but I have a bad feeling." I grumbled, switching over to an earpiece and pulling on my helmet. "I'm heading over there now and if the SPK and Light are watching your cameras, make sure your shinigami friend leaves me be. I'd rather they _didn't_ know I was alive."

"Whatever." He said, the audible snapping of his chocolate coming over the phone. "But we're moving hideouts, so head to the address I give you."

"Fine! Just try not to do anything stupid, you chocolate loving idiot! You've already caused far too many problems!"

"Che, yeah, well. At least I'm getting things done!"

"But if they find you through the mafia group, I won't be able to do anything!"

"Stop worrying! I'm smarter than that moron Near. I know how to cover my tracks. Later."

He hung up on me and I grumbled to myself, pulling over to check the address and heading off again, calling up Near.

"Near, we have a situation."

"Other than the murdering of the President?"

"Are you serious?! I _just_ got off the phone with him! Argh, that's not important!…Well, it is, but-Just listen, okay?"

"I have been." Near said, making my eye twitch.

"Mello's trying to get to the new hideout with his mafia friends and I'm on the way there. The only issue is, Light's keeping track of him and has already sent a group to the last hideout. The only way they managed to escape was with the help of a shinigami. Now, I have a bad feeling about what's going on and I think that Light can get a hold of Mello's whereabouts through the mafia group. Not like a spy or any of that, but I wouldn't put it past him to start, I don't know, killing mafia members to see if there's some sort of reaction or something? Just, is there anything you could possibly do to slow Light down?"

"Perhaps, but shouldn't we wait and observe a bit? I do not believe that Light will plan something too quickly without thinking it through."

I bit my lip, taking in Near's wise words and nodded. "Alright. But the moment I feel that something is going wrong, I'll move."

"Very well. Goodbye, Kitsu."

"Bye, Near."

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><p>"Mello! You have to listen to me!" I shouted, earning a groan from the boy on the chair in front of me.<p>

I'd been trying to get him to understand that he can't just trust a shinigami so willingly for three days now. Even I could tell the thing was weak willed and not very smart, so it would be easy for Light and his shinigami to trick this one, just as it was easy for Mello to trick it too.

"I already told you, we'll be fine. I've got people watching it."

"Yeah, but Light is watching it too. You won't be able to see _his_ shinigami on the cameras, don't you think Light will be able to figure this out and use that to his advantage? Heck, who's to say they didn't take advantage of the shinigami eyes and are going to use them! I already told you, we need to leave!"

"And I already _said_ I'm not leaving." He said with a glare, though I glared right back in annoyance.

"Wow!"

I looked around then and noticed the large number of men who had fallen to the floor dead and I turned to Mello, waving a hand at them.

"You believe me now?! You can't just tell me that some of them didn't have aliases! And that stupid shinigami you were so trusting in just let them walk right in!"

He crouched in his seat and snapped off a piece of his chocolate. "Fine! I shouldn't have trusted that idiot! But this is my place, so my rules! We have other things to worry about if the police are just going to come in!"

He hurried up the stairs and I followed behind him, not pleased with how he was acting towards me, but knowing that now wasn't the time.

"Roy, Skiar, be careful not to get the notebook stolen. Bring it to the monitor room."

"Eh?!"

I turned around then. "Just grab it and hurry on up here!" Once Mello and I were locked up in the room though, I rounded on him. "Are you seriously trusting those two to grab that and keep it safe?! You should've grabbed it while we had the chance!"

"Then _you_ should have grabbed it!" He shouted in return, going to check the monitors as the Task Force rushed in.

"I tried to get them to come here, but they aren't exactly the brightest bunch!" I shouted back, pulling out a pistol from the back of my pants and cocking it. "Like I _said_, one of us should have grabbed it before coming up here!"

"Too late now!" He shouted back, pointing to the monitors. "They just threw in tear gas!"

"Oh, _that's_ bad? How about the fact that not only do they have the notebook now, but we're stuck in this room because you guys never keep enough exits!"

I pulled out my phone and quickly dialed L's number, not giving him a chance to speak as he answered. "L, look, I got to say this quick. Mello and I are in a tight situation. I'll send you the address, so make sure we have a get away car about half a block north from here, okay?"

"Very well. I will come and-"

"L, I'm sorry, but you can't." I said, shaking my head despite the fact that he couldn't see it. "I still think one of these guys might have the eyes and if you get caught here, everything we've worked for will have gone up in smoke. It's bad enough I'm here, but…" I took a deep breath and steeled myself as footsteps stopped outside the door. "But I have no qualms about taking them out if they should see me."

"Kitsu-"

"L, I'm not going to argue about this!"

"Kitsu, I-"

"No buts!"

"Kitsu."

I stopped, suddenly hearing his annoyed tone. "W-What?"

"Check your left jacket pocket."

I did so and pulled out a black masquerade mask with a smirk. "Oh, damn you, you loveable panda, you."

"I will take that as a thank you."

"Well, duh." I smirked, putting the mask on, feeling like a cliché evil villain. "Remind me to buy you sweets or something on the way back."

"Of course. Be safe, Kitsu."

"I'll do what I can."

There was silence on the line, and I swore he hung up, but just before I was about to do the same, I heard him speak softly over the phone.

"…I love you, Kitsu."

I couldn't help but smile. "Daw, I'm just getting all sorts of kindness from you today, aren't I?~"

"Gag." I heard Mello say from behind me and I whipped around to him and chucked a cup from off a nearby table at him head.

"Shut up! You _wish_ L liked you as much as he likes me!"

He turned a bright red and promptly did as I said, before I went to say goodbye to L.

"Anyway, I'll see you later, L. And…I love you too."

Just then, there was an explosion and I turned to Mello in annoyance. "Oi! What the hell was that?!"

"Just shut up and let me get the notebook back!" He shouted, making me cross my arms with a huff as he spoke to the Task Force outside.

"I've exploded the two other doorways. You can't get out easily."

I rolled my eyes and grumbled quietly. "Great. I'm stuck in here with you forever."

He glared at me, before continuing. "This one was just a threat, but next time I'll blow out the whole hideout. I'm watching your actions through monitoring cameras. If you don't want to be blown off, follow my lead. My first direction, break the camera on your helmets, all of you."

He gave me a look as though to say 'Happy now?' but I wasn't. Just because I said they could have the shinigami eyes, didn't mean that it wasn't one of the Task Force who had gotten them. _Twenty bucks says Matsuda did it._ I thought with a sweat drop. Watching the monitors though, I watched as the men did as they were told.

"Drop all your weapons downstairs. All of you, except for the one who has the notebook, move back." Mello smirked. "All right, come to the door with the notebook, then take off your helmet."

I was surprised to see Light's father, Mr. Yagami, standing there; making my stomach clench. _Let's hope I won't have to kill him if he finds out who I am._ I glanced over at Mello. _Though _he_ isn't taking any precautions._

"Haha, it's you again, Yagami. Should I have killed you?" Mello smirked, giving me a roll of his eyes when I glared. "It's interesting to deal up on the notebook twice. In a case like this, it's easier to deal with such an absurdly serious man like you. Don't worry, Yagami. I won't do dirty on the dealing. I can't take off the explosion switch, but I don't have a gun with my both hands up. Check it out and enter this room at ease. You only have to have the notebook and helmet. Ah!" Mello turned to me. "Well, I would think you wouldn't worry. I have a friend of yours here too, though they have a weapon."

"You right little-"

"Now come in." Mello said, sticking out his tongue at me as I made a mental note to throttle him later.

Yagami walked in, looking at us both, but frowning at me, thankfully having no clue who I was…yet. Mello though, was another story.

"Bring the notebook and your helmet here. Then you are a captive again."

"Mello…" Yagami said slowly, but then I saw a glint in his eyes and I frowned. "Mihael Keehl. His true name is Mihael Keehl. I got it!"

I scowled, glaring at Mello in a 'I told you so manner' before leveling my gun with Yagami's head, really not wanting to kill him if I didn't have to. Oddly enough though, Yagami didn't immediately write down his name and proceeded to talk to us.

"We have already known this. Give up, Mello. If you stay and get arrested, we won't kill you." Yagami said, eyeing me. "If I write down your name on this notebook, you and your friend will die. Throw away the switch and put your hands in the air. Now! Throw away the switch!"

Mello began laughing and I sighed, wishing I could just get out of here and we could all just live unharmed for once. _Makes me almost miss living on the streets. Oddly enough, I think I'd have a better chance surviving there._

"Haha, I won't fall for such threats. If you try to write down my name, I'll press the switch and my friend here will kill you."

"Do it if you want." Yagami said, surprising even me. "I don't hold my life dear anymore. If I sacrifice my life and you die, I'll be able to rest at ease."

"Don't play cool, Yagami. If you are content with that, how about your men? Can you sacrifice all of them?" Mello asked, trying another angle.

"They are my men. They have been preparing themselves for that." Yagami said, very seriously. "I don't know how serious the blasting is. If there were to be someone who can survive, it would be my men, who are fully-armed. If I protect this notebook with my arms around it, it won't be damaged and gone off. On this occasion, all we expect is that you and the notebook be perished. Give up, Mello. If you want to be alive, you have no choice but to be arrested. Throw away the switch."

"Mr. Yagami." I finally spoke up, sounding sad. "Have you really lost your will to live?"

He glared at me as I continued.

"What about Sayu? Your wife? And you said you're willing to sacrifice your men too? What about Aizawa's family? Matsuda probably hasn't even dated someone yet. Are you really so willing to throw all of that away?"

"Who are you?! How do you know all of this?!"

I sighed. "I can't exactly tell you that. Big plans going on. Catching Kira and all that."

"Tell me!"

I knew I couldn't reveal myself to him without messing everything up, so I took another direction with it.

"Alright." I said, shrugging. "Sayu should have mentioned me. Someone who helped her out while this _idiot_ had her with him."

His eyes widened, confirming that Sayu had mentioned me. "Y-You…You're the one who helped my daughter?"

"Of course. She shouldn't have gotten all caught up in this and…neither should the sub-chief have been killed. I was just…too late, is all. I had to do what I could to help her."

Yagami looked over at Mello and back at me, before shaking his head. "There is nothing left for me, if Kira is the one in control of everything and the notebooks are running loose with people like _him_."

Mello rolled his eyes, starting to look impatient.

"Well, I get that, but I'll tell you what. Is killing really going to end this stupid cycle of death?"

He frowned, knowing internally that I was right, but he wouldn't give in to his old soft side and turned back to Mello.

"Throw the switch away."

"Yagami, you… You haven't killed a person, have you?" Mello asked, slipping open a drawer where a gun lay hidden, having gotten tired of all of this, no doubt.

"Don't move!" Yagami shouted, and I lifted my gun back to his head, knowing that he was nearly done writing Mello's name and I would kill him if I had to, because this wasn't the Mr. Yagami I knew anymore. "I have only your family name left. It'll take less than a second. Give up and be arrested!"

"Sorry, Yagami." Mello said, and I saw his eyes shift to some movement on the floor; I too spotting the man lying there reaching for his weapon. "You should have written my name nice and quick. Now that I've noticed it, you can't write anymore."

The man on the floor lifted his gun and I mouthed the words "I'm sorry" to Yagami as the man unloaded his weapon into him. As he fell, Mello pulled on his face mask that he'd dropped and the man-Josh-began tugging at the notebook, but to no avail.

"N-No. He won't let go of the notebook. Is he still alive?"

Josh went to finish him off, but I grabbed the gun, stopping him.

"No. Leave it." I leaned down to Yagami and lifted my mask enough so he could see my face. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Yagami." I whispered. "I only wanted to help us all get out of here alright. Can I just…Can I just have the page with his name? Please? I want to stop all this. Stop him, stop Kira, stop it. Please. If you can hear me, just let me get that page."

His fingers slowly began to uncurl enough that I could grab the only wrinkled edge of paper in the notebook and I ripped it just as the door burst open with the rest of the group. Josh was shot dead beside me and another bullet hit me in the chest, knocking the wind out of me, but I was smart this time around and had on a bullet proof vest that L had gotten me for my last birthday. _Thank God for that…sort of._ I didn't give any sign that I was okay, lying on the ground and looking up at Mello as he glared at me; practically shouting that I was n idiot.

"Give up, Mello. Throw away the switch!"

Mello held it up and my eyes widened. _Oh, please tell me he's not going to do what I think he's going to do._ With a 'click' the building exploded and I silently regretted leaving my old life on the streets once again. _I'm always getting myself into trouble, aren't I?_


	37. Chapter 34

**Sorry about the super late update! i've been side tracked with life problems, and other fanfic updates, and...doctor who...but i updated! ^^ and gave Kitsu and L some fluffy bits as well as some foxy pranks, so enjoy and tell me what you think!**

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><p>"Ugh, why do you have to be so stupid, you brat." I grunted as I half-carried, half-dragged Mello's unconscious form through the forested area to our getaway vehicle. "I swear, when you wake up, I'm going to strangle you. Blowing up the warehouse, who does that?!" I paused. "…Well, I do, but not while I'm still in it!"<p>

I continued to grumble under my breath as I found the black van and opened the passenger side, cringing as I lifted Mello into the seat and buckled him in. I wasn't nearly as bad off as he was, but my right hand was burned pretty bad and there was a good-sized piece of wood sticking out of my left thigh. I already stabilized it with the cloth from a curtain that wasn't too badly ruined in the fire, but it wasn't life threatening and could easily be removed once I'd gotten to L's and my hideout. I was still frustrated though about Mello blowing up the place, so a frown had etched itself on my face as I climbed into the driver's seat and set off getting out of the area unseen.

"I mean, really. Let's blow up the building we're in!" I mocked in frustration. "Personal safety? What's that? I'm too busy being a suicidal _idiotic_ brat! And-Ah!"

I jumped, swerving on the road as a hand touched my leg, only to swerve back into my lane and switch my wide-eyed stare at the hunched over figure sitting crouched between the seats and the road.

"W-What the hell, L?! You trying to one-up Kira or something?! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

He smiled a bit at that, bringing a thumb to his lips in amusement. "That was not my intention, however people have often mistaken me for him before."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh yeah. You think you're so funny, don't you." I quipped back as I turned my eyes back to the road. "What are you doing here anyway? I thought I told you to stay back at the base."

I saw him tilt his head in my peripheral vision. "I would have to walk, seeing as I drove the van here and leaving it would mean I had no ride back. And this is too far out to call a cab."

I mentally smacked myself and I sighed. "Sorry. I hadn't thought about that. With the idiot blonde over there blowing up the building, I was more than distracted."

"He _is_ quite a handful. You understand now why I never told him or Near who I really was."

"No kidding." I grumbled, when I felt L touching my hair. "Something wrong?"

"It's singed." He replied, making me groan once more.

"Of course. Well, I suppose I needed a haircut anyway." I mused, slightly upset about my hair, but also looking forward to getting it cut again. "Maybe I should dye it again… Or bleach it." I smirked devilishly. "That's it. I'll bleach it white and when Mello wakes up I'll trick him into thinking I'm dead and going to haunt him. _Oh_ that'll be fun. I'll make him piss his pants."

"But I like it."

"Huh?" I gave him a glance, confused as he continued to twirl some of my hair around his finger. "You don't want me to cut it?"

"The color." He clarified. "I like it red. It… reminds me of strawberries."

I deadpanned, giving him a look. "Did you just compare my hair to a fruit?"

He looked at me innocently. "My _favorite_ fruit."

We stared at each other in silence for a moment, before I couldn't help it and turned away with a laugh.

"God, I missed you, L. And I won't change my hair color since you like it that much. I wouldn't _dare_ get between you and your love of strawberries."

"Hm, but I love you more than strawberries." He hummed, making my face abruptly go red as I leaned my forehead against the steering wheel in embarrassment.

"God, you're lucky I'm driving, or I'd have jumped you for that."

He chuckled, the sound ringing pleasantly despite how short it was. It wasn't often I got him to laugh, but when I did, I relished in the sound. It was then that I realized something and raised a brow at him.

"Shouldn't you be wearing a seatbelt?"

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><p>Mello slowly came around to consciousness and groaned as pain settled in. He was glad that someone had taken care of him, feeling the bandages around his face, and assumed it must've been Kitsu except he couldn't see the masculine woman actually caring that much. <em>I wouldn't be surprised if she just ditched me for blowing up the warehouse.<em> He opened his eyes though and stared up in fear at the white-haired, pale faced, corpse-like woman hovering above him looking none to happy.

"_Mello._" She droned out with a hoarse voice sounding like death itself. "_How could you do this to me?! You killed me!_"

"W-W-What?!" He shouted, sitting up abruptly and scooting back as far as he could away from the woman as she clambered up onto the bed in burnt and tattered white clothing. "I-I didn't-But how?!"

"_I died because of you!_" She continued, moving closer as Mello ran out of room to back up. "_It's all your fault! _You_ blew up the warehouse! And I died while you lived!_"

"H-Hold on! How is it _my_ f-fault?! Y-You should've gotten out!"

"_I was too busy trying to save you!_" She was hovering over him now, a hand reaching out and the tips of her icy cold fingers brushing over his cheek as a devilish smirk came over her face. "_It's okay though. You'll just have to make it up to me… For _eternity_! Mwahahaha!_" She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him even closer, eyes glowing red. "_I'll drag you down to hell with me Mello! To hell!"_

"Ahhhhhh!" He screamed, struggling against what he assumed was Kitsu's ghost and falling off the bed and onto the floor as the lights flickered and went out; her so-called apparition disappearing. "No! No! You can't! Leave me alone! Ah!"

The lights came back on then and the door clicked open, making him jump up in fear and grab a chair to use as a weapon should it be Kitsu's ghost again. Except this time, it wasn't her ghost. It was her, giving him a strange look as she held a tray of food.

"Yo, you alright there, blondie? You were screaming like a girl and as much as I would care…" She set the tray of food aside and tilted her head back to look at him over her shoulder. "I don't. Seeing as you tried to kill us both with your little stunt."

"B-B-But you were…" He set the chair down and pointed at her fearfully. "Y-You were dead! You were a ghost a-and said you were going to d-drag me to hell with you!"

"Pft, sounds like someone's on too much morphine." She scoffed, jumping up to sit on a cabinet and grabbing a biscuit from off his food tray, chomping into it. "When you've stopped having your little mental break, you're welcome to eat. Though I might eat it all first if you don't hurry up." She smirked, pointing a finger at him with the hand holding the biscuit. "Can you scream like a girl again?"

His face grew a bright red and he quickly stormed towards her and began shouting. "No! Now stop eating my food and get the fuck out!"

She chuckled as she hopped off and walked out, waving her hand with the biscuit as she left, before absolutely bursting into full blown laughter once the door closed.

"Oh my God, his _face_! Ahaha! And he screamed like a little girl! L, did you see that?! _Please_ tell me you got all of that on camera!"

He came out from around the corner and nodded, a small smile on his lips at seeing her so pleased with herself. He had to admit though, it was quite funny to see Mello panic. He went over to the computers and hooked them up to the camera feed from the room Mello was in and replayed the prank that Kitsu had just pulled on Mello. She watched it and continued to laugh, having to cling to L in order to not crumble to the floor with how hard she was laughing.

"O-Oh man. H-H-He was so scared! This is going to be the _greatest_ blackmail ever!" She breathed out between laughs, tucking the white wig and flour away along with the white clothes she had wrecked. "Oh, I can't wait to use it against him. Pft, you think I should send it to Near?"

"He would find it amusing." L replied and she beamed, nodding to him.

"Alright! Send it to him! Let me know what he says."

L did that and chuckled at the response as Kitsu rushed over and leaned over his shoulder.

"What'd he say?"

"He said you're very childish, but it was very amusing and he will also think about using it as blackmail."

Kitsu grinned. "I knew he'd love it."

L nodded and looked up at her as she continued to hover, spotting something and reaching up to brush it off from along the underside of her jaw, surprising her.

"Flour." He said, showing her the white substance on his fingers and enjoying the way her cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

"W-Whoops." She said with a slight chuckle, but L couldn't stand how close she was anymore and quickly grabbed the back of her neck to pull his lips to hers.

Once they pulled away, he couldn't help but the hint of a smile he had. _Her face looks like a strawberry._

"You should rest, Kitsu." He said, turning away to go through some files on his computer. "You might reopen your wound."

"Tease." He heard her mutter under her breath and he turned with a raised brow as she turned away towards the bed; though the tips of her ears were a bright red.

Even he was a bit red at that and the stirring in his stomach was something he wasn't used to. He hadn't had feelings like this since he was younger and he'd been forced to quickly nip them in the bud due to his job. But now he had Kitsu. _Mello's recovering in the make-shift room we provided._ His mind argued. _But there's a locking system…What if she doesn't want to?…Then why would she have said that?…It'll be a distraction…Not like there's much happening…_ His hand reached out before he could realize what he was doing and he pressed the button to lock Mello's room before getting up and slowly heading towards where Kitsu was.

"Could I… possibly… join you?" He asked, thoroughly embarrassed with red creeping up his neck and onto his face.

He decided that he wasn't comfortable with that feeling and tried to will it away, but it stayed and he watched as Kitsu stared at him in surprise.

"U-Um, sure." She stuttered as he moved onto the bed, turning her head towards where Mello's room was. "But what about-"

He cut her off with a kiss, pushing her back onto the bed as he shut off that part of his head telling him to stop.

"I locked the door." He breathed out and she slowly nodded, mouth still gapping in surprise.

"A-A-Alright. Then um… I guess we're actually…doing this?"

He smiled a bit as she did. "I guess so."

And with that, they fell into each other's arms and proceeded to ignore the angry pounding on the door to Mello's room.

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><p>I was giddy. Completely over the moon despite the fact that Mello had run off to do something stupid the moment he was healed enough to move. Maybe it was because I was fully healed up too and didn't have to deal with pain in my leg anymore. Maybe it was because I'd buzzed both sides of my head and gotten a new mohawk-like hairstyle. Or maybe it was because L and I had shared our first <em>real<em> night together. Heck if I knew which one it was or a bit of all of the above, but I was in a really good mood and once I'd donned a Guy Fawkes mask and outfit, I waved a cheery goodbye to L and headed over to Near's hideout; thoroughly enjoying the shocked faces of bystanders and drivers as I sped past them on my motorcycle.

I parked my bike and easily bypassed security before heading into the main room with a smirk under my mask.

"Hey, Near! I'm in a good mood today so I came by to play chess with…you…" I looked around at the group with guns aimed at a familiar blonde who had his own gun pointed at the back of some woman's head. "Ooh, bad timing?"

"No. It's fine." Near said, before speaking to the others as they debated on whether to switch their aim to me or not. "Lower your guns, all of you, not only Mello. It's useless to shed blood here."

"B-But Mello killed our fellow… he also murdered the Director of NPA." One of the men said, no one lowering their weapons.

"Actually!" I poked my head around Mello's shoulder and poked him in the cheek with a black gloved finger. "There's no proof that Mello did it. I would know. I was there. It was most likely the work of Kira who killed the NPA director." I smirked innocently under my mask. "And believe me, if Mello killed him, I'd of killed him myself. The NPA director was someone very close to me."

The group with their guns out shivered at the threat, but Near and Mello were hardly effected.

"Well, it doesn't matter at all." Near said. "Don't let me repeat myself. Our goal is to arrest Kira. Killing Mello now is of no use for us. We should raise our hat to him for the fact that he once owned the notebook and also closed so much on Kira. Pointing a gun at him is as rude as can be."

"Understood." The men said, lowering their weapons as Mello released the woman and held his own gun up.

"Near, you say clever things. This is just as you intended thus far, isn't it?"

"Yes. I didn't expect to come this far, but with Mello's help, I could narrow down Kira so much."

"_Near_…"

I sighed as Mello pointed his gun over at Near and the others raised their own weapons back up.

"I'm not your tool to solve a puzzle."

Near seemed just as annoyed as I was. "Don't make me repeat the same thing so many times. Lower your guns."

No one moved so he went on.

"Mello, you can shoot me if you want."

He moved closer and I stepped between them and grabbed the end of Mello's gun with a grin hiding behind my mask.

"Now, now, children who blow themselves up should know better than to play with firearms." I hummed, tilting my head. "What have I said about you two working together and behaving yourselves. L wouldn't be pleased." I straightened myself and stopped grinning, getting serious. "So _drop it._"

He frowned, but lowered the weapon. "Fine. I just came here to get back the photo of mine anyway."

My shoulders slumped as I whined. "Really? All of this over a photo? Who needs a gun to get back a photo?"

With that, I wandered over to where Near was and began setting up the chess board as he pulled out a photo of Mello.

"I only have one photo of you and have never made any copies. Also, I haven't let this get taken by any monitoring cameras here."

I snatched it from him and cooed. "Aw, is this from before you turned into an ass? You're so cute.~"

"Give me that!" He shouted, taking it from me and pointing the gun at me as I held my hands up and chuckled. "_Oh_, you don't know how much I want to shoot you."

"But you won't~" I sang. "After all, I'd take you down to hell with me if you did."

He paled at that, most likely remembering the prank I pulled on him, before he lowered his gun and tried to act tough.

"Che, waste of bullets."

I spotted Near with a small smile as well and continued to chuckle as I went back to what I was doing.

"Adding to that," Near went on. "I have dealt with all the people who know Mello's face in Wammy's house. I can't give 100% assurance, but there will be no possibility that Mello is killed by the notebook."

"Near, I have no idea of cooperating with you." He said, glaring at me as I hummed a song and moved a knight to it's place on the board. "But I have no choice in the matter. So let me tell you something. The death note, it's a notebook of shinigami, and if you hand the book, you can see the God of Death."

"N-Non-sense." A man behind him muttered as the other expressed his disbelief.

"Who believes such a thing as the God of Death?"

"I do!~" I chirped, holding up my hand as Near nodded.

"I believe that as well. What good is it for Mello to tell a lie about a shinigami existence? If he has to lie, he would make up a much better one. Therefore, he's telling the truth and shinigami exist." Near turned to me with a small smile. "And Kitsu wouldn't lie about such things."

"The notebook I had is the book of a shinigami names Shidou. He dropped it in the human's world and came down to get it back, but the book was once owned by another shinigami." Mello explained, some of the information unknown to me.

"That's because the rules to let humans use the notebook were written on the notebook. If he wants to get back the notebook, it's strange that the rules for humans to use it were written."

"And you already know that some of the rules written were fake, so I have nothing else to tell you." Mello said, tucking his gun away and moving to leave, only to paused in the doorway. "Kitsu, I'll have Matt send you info on my next location."

I waved with a grin. "Okay! Bye blondie!~"

I chuckled as he stiffened and his fist shook in anger, before he stormed out and slammed the door shut.

"Oh I love messing with him. Don't you, Near?"

He smiled a bit and moved over across from me to play our chess game. "Quite. The video you sent me was very fun to watch, as well. I must thank you for that."

"Oh, no problem. I had a blast." I laughed, before moving my pawn to match his already moved piece. "Your move."


End file.
